Housing Vacancy Calculator

How to use this calculator

Enter Total units, Occupied units. The result updates in your browser as you edit an input. The prefilled values are examples only.

How the estimate works

Divide vacant units, or total minus occupied units, by total units.

What can change the answer?

Total and occupied unit figures must use the same geography and year. A vacancy figure alone does not explain seasonal housing or local availability.

Before relying on the result

Check that both figures describe the intended geographic boundary and reference period. Confirm units, source definitions and any uncertainty information in the original dataset. The calculator does not independently verify those details or explain the causes of a change.

Further reference

For source data or a more detailed method, see U.S. Census Bureau: QuickFacts. The calculator does not automatically import data from this source.

Worked example with the default inputs

With 45,000 total units and 42,000 occupied units, 3,000 are vacant. Dividing 3,000 by 45,000 gives 6.67%. This aggregate does not identify units available for rent.

Interpret the result in a planning record

The housing vacancy calculator uses total units and occupied units to find vacant units and their share of the total. Both counts must describe the same period and geography. Vacancy can include several categories with different meanings. The aggregate percentage does not, by itself, identify homes available for rent or explain why a unit is unoccupied.

Save the input values, units and result together. Change one uncertain input at a time so you can see which assumption moves the answer. A displayed decimal is arithmetic precision, rather than evidence that the measurements or rates are equally precise.

More tools

Read the How to Compare US Counties Without Misreading the Data guide →