Recent data from Yardi Matrix and the U.S. Census show a wide disparity in both the average size of apartments in the country and the average number of people occupying the space. The No. 1 spot for the least amount of personal space is Santa Ana, Calif., with an average 292 square feet per occupant. Santa Ana is in Orange County about 30 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The average apartment size per occupant in the U.S. is 526 square feet. Louisville, Ky., tops the list for the most amount of personal space, with 731 square feet per occupant. As expected, the tighter living spaces are located in the most crowded cities.
The number of people occupying each unit is a factor in calculating personal living space. Santa Ana is also No. 1 for most occupants per space, clocking in at 2.9. An old engineering rule of thumb pegs the amount of space needed for a single person to be between 100 to 400 square feet.
Out of the top 10 cities with the least apartment space per person, five are in California, including Fremont, Chula Vista, Anaheim, and Los Angeles. On the East Coast, Queens is the tightest of the five boroughs of New York with 329 square feet per person. Brooklyn has 351, and Manhattan has 393.
Louisville has the winning combination of large spaces—an average of 933 square feet and fewer renters per space, which is 1.3. Winston-Salem, N.C., offers 723 square feet per person, while Omaha, Neb., has an average of 689. Anomalies on the list include Newark, N.J., which averages 697 square feet and 416 square feet per person. The same goes for Seattle, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Chicago, all cities with relatively small apartment sizes but lower occupancy levels per space.
What it all means in today’s current situation has psychologists pondering the outcome of long quarantines. Jenny Maenpaa, a psychotherapist based in New York, says, “With many people being required to stay home for the foreseeable future, there is a decrease in privacy, ability to find space for quiet reflection and sunlight, all of which affect mood. In addition, working from home and not being able to leave for social engagements creates difficulty differentiating between 'work' and 'leisure' times, which contributes to decreased sleep, productivity, and ability to process emotions—a recipe for increased anxiety.”
Raychelle Cassada Lohmann, a mental health counselor based in Cary, N.C., has some advice for anybody feeling closed in. She says, “If you are living in a confined space, try to reclaim your sense of privacy and space by keeping yourself busy around the house. It’s also crucial that you keep the communication lines open—talk with your roommate, partner, or friend and come up with respectful ways to help one another get through this difficult time.”
