A new map by Vizual Statistix on Tumblr shows when the homes in the US were built. It’s a fun map that breaks up the time periods from pre-1930s to present day in order to show us where the old and new housing stock is located.
A History of Residential Construction in the United States. Click map to view full size
The map shows what time period the plurality (mode) of houses was built in for each county. As you can see, much of the Midwest and Northeast are dominated by older homes (1930s and before). The southern states and states west of the Rockies tend to have more 1970s through 1990s houses. There are only two counties in the entire country where 1940s houses are the mode: Anderson County, TN, and Cottle County, TX. There are three counties where 2005-2013 homes are the mode: Cameron Parish, LA, Plaquemines Parish, LA, and Hancock County, Mississippi.
There are three clear regions shown from this map. The first is the older housing stock, which resides north of the mason-dixon line in New England, the great lakes and the great pains. The second, is directly below it. The old south contains a myriad of development during the 70s, 80s, and especially the 90s. West Texas’s homes built during the 50s and 60s separate the old south from the American West where homes are largely from the construction booms of the 70s and 90s. Only a few areas have plurality of home building occurring in recent years.
In many ways, this represents recent migration patters for modern day. Even though we can’t see large areas of recently built homes, we do see more modern homes in the south and west. The sunbelt continues to attract residents away from the northeast and the rustbelt, and the availability of housing sock that isn’t a baby boom era 1940s / 50s starter home or an old farmhouse is certainly a factor.