A reference of 40 statistics on how often US homes leak, break down and get pests, and how each problem changes with the decade the home was built: roof, basement, pipe and water heater leaks, heating and sewage breakdowns, lost water and tripped breakers, mice, cockroaches and mold, plus owners versus renters and a comparison with 1999. Almost every figure is our own weighted analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau's 2023 American Housing Survey (census.gov), which interviewed 48,527 occupied homes, and our totals match the ones the Census Bureau publishes.
Key statistics
6 highlights from this report
Key statistics
Key takeaways
Problems are far more common in older houses. In the 2023 American Housing Survey, homes built before 1940 reported water leaks, heating breakdowns, mold and mice at about 2.7 to 5.8 times the rate of homes built since 2010, and the gap holds among single-family houses alone. Leaks from broken water heaters are the exception: they show up at nearly the same rate in homes of every age built before 2010.
More than 1 in 7 US homes (15.4%) had a water leak in the 12 months before their 2023 survey interview.
Homes built before 1940 had a leak 2.7 times as often as homes built since 2010 (22.5% vs 8.2%).
Nearly 1 in 4 homes built before 1940 had signs of mice or rats in a year, vs about 1 in 25 built since 2010.
Roofs leaked into 5.8 million US homes in a single year.
About 1 million homes had a leak from a broken water heater, at nearly the same rate in homes built anywhere from before 1940 to 2009.
Renters were about twice as likely as owners to be cold for 24+ hours after the heat broke down.
How we built this report
Every 2023 figure on this page is a computation we ran in October 2026 against the raw federal survey file, not a number copied from another publication.
- Downloaded the public use microdata
We pulled the national public use file of the 2023 American Housing Survey, which the U.S. Census Bureau runs for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It holds 48,527 occupied homes interviewed in 2023, each asked about leaks, breakdowns, pests and mold.
- Applied the survey weights
Every figure is weighted with the survey's household weight, so the estimates describe all 133.2 million occupied US homes rather than the sample.
- Validated against published totals
Our weighted counts match the Census Bureau's own published 2023 figures: 133.2 million occupied homes, 11.8 million with an outside leak, 11.2 million with an inside leak, 10.0 million uncomfortably cold for 24 hours, 15.7 million with signs of mice or rats and 3.9 million with mold.
- Margins of error from the Census formula
Each percentage carries a 90% margin of error computed with the variance parameters the Census Bureau publishes for this survey. Where two figures sit within each other's margins, we call them roughly equal rather than ranking them.
- Second review
Written by one co-founder, reviewed by the other before publishing.
These are problems households reported for their own home, not inspection findings. The age pattern is a correlation: older homes also differ in building type, location and who lives in them. It holds when we look at single-family detached houses alone, and basement comparisons use only houses that have a basement. Renters include households living without paying rent, as in Census tables, and heating breakdowns are counted among households that lived in the home last winter. Leaks, pests and mold cover the past 12 months; sewage breakdowns, water loss and tripped breakers cover the past 3 months; heating breakdowns cover last winter. Households could report more than one problem. The 1999 comparison uses the Census Bureau's own 1999 figures, and the survey was redesigned in 2015, so treat that comparison as directional.
What goes wrong in US homes, by the numbers
All 40 figures, grouped by problem. 2023 figures are our weighted analysis of the American Housing Survey; the 1999 and EPA figures are quoted from their publishers and checked against the originals.
How often US homes leak
The American Housing Survey asks every household whether water leaked into the home in the past 12 months, from outside (the roof, basement, walls, windows or doors) or from inside (pipes, including leaks from a neighboring unit, plumbing backups, a broken water heater or another inside source). According to the U.S. Census Bureau (census.gov), 11.8 million homes had an outside leak and 11.2 million an inside leak in 2023. Counting homes with either kind, 20.5 million homes, or 15.4%, had at least one leak, and the roof was the most common single source.
Statistic 1
15.4% of US homes, about 20.5 million, had a water leak in the past 12 months: more than 1 in 7.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 2
8.8% of homes (11.8 million) had water leak in from outside.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 3
8.4% of homes (11.2 million) had water leak in from an inside source, such as pipes, plumbing backups, a broken water heater or a neighboring unit.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 4
Water leaked in through the roof of 5.8 million homes (4.4%), the most common single source.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 5
Pipes leaked in 4.9 million homes (3.7%).
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 6
Basements leaked in 2.8 million homes (2.1%).
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 7
Plumbing backed up in 2.7 million homes (2.0%).
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 8
Water came in around walls, windows or doors in 2.5 million homes (1.8%).
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 9
A broken water heater leaked in about 1.0 million homes (0.8%).
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
What this means: a leak in any given year is common, not rare, and the roof and the pipes are its two biggest sources. For what those leaks cost once they become claims, see our water leak and insurance statistics.
Leaks by the age of the home
Leak rates fall steadily with every newer group of homes. 22.5% of homes built before 1940 had a leak in the past year, against 8.2% of homes built since 2010. The gap is not just old apartments against new houses: among single-family detached houses alone, the rates are 23.6% and 6.5%.
Homes with a water leak in the past year, by year built
Share of occupied US homes, 2023. Any leak from outside or inside.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey. 90% margins of error are 0.7 to 1.2 points per group.
Statistic 10
22.5% of homes built before 1940 had a water leak in the past year, against 8.2% of homes built since 2010: 2.7 times as often.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 11
Outside leaks: 14.9% of homes built before 1940 against 4.2% of homes built since 2010, 3.5 times as often.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 12
Roof leaks: 6.1% of homes built before 1940 against 2.4% of homes built since 2010.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 13
Pipe leaks ran 4.0% to 4.6% in every age group of homes built before 2000, against 1.6% for homes built since 2010.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 14
Among houses with a basement, 12.4% of those built before 1940 had a basement leak, against 2.1% of those built since 2010.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 15
Older houses are also far more likely to have a basement at all: 70.9% of houses built before 1940, against 24.0% of those built since 2010 (apartments are not asked about foundations).
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 16
Homes built before 1960 are 25.8% of US homes but 33.5% of the homes that had a leak.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 17
Among single-family detached houses only, 23.6% of those built before 1940 had a leak, against 6.5% of those built since 2010: 3.6 times as often.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 18
Leaks from a broken water heater ran 0.7% to 0.9% in every age group of homes built before 2010.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
What this means: the age of a house is a strong signal for roof and basement trouble; pipe leaks drop only in homes built since 2000, and water heater leaks barely move with the age of the house. One likely reason is that a water heater is replaced on its own schedule, so the house’s age says little about the heater inside it; our water heater failure statistics cover how long they last and how they fail.
Breakdowns: heat, water, sewage and power
Beyond leaks, the survey asks about the systems that keep a home livable. Heating failures follow the same age pattern as leaks: 4.4% of households in homes built before 1940 were left uncomfortably cold for 24 hours or more because the main heating equipment broke down last winter, against 1.6% in homes built since 2010. Tripped breakers are the one problem that does not fade in newer homes.
Statistic 19
3.4 million homes, 2.7% of households that lived there last winter, were uncomfortably cold for 24 hours or more because the main heating equipment broke down.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 20
Heating breakdowns: 4.4% of homes built before 1940 against 1.6% of homes built since 2010.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 21
For any reason, 10.0 million homes (7.8%) were uncomfortably cold for 24 hours or more last winter.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 22
4.6 million homes (3.5%) were completely without running water at some point in the past 3 months.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 23
1.6 million homes (1.2%) had a sewage system breakdown in the past 3 months.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 24
10.4 million homes (7.8%) had a fuse blow or a breaker trip in the past 3 months.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 25
Tripped breakers do not fade in newer homes: 8.8% of homes built since 2010 reported one in 3 months, against 6.1% of homes built from 2000 to 2009.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
What this means: heating failures rise with the age of the home as sharply as leaks do, while losing running water varies far less by age. Breakers are the outlier: homes built since 2010 report tripped breakers more often than homes built from 2000 to 2009.
Pests and mold
Mice and rats show the largest age gap in percentage points on this page. 23.9% of homes built before 1940, about 3.9 million homes, saw signs of mice or rats in the past year, against 4.1% of homes built since 2010. Cockroaches are just as common overall but track the age of the home far less closely.
Statistic 26
15.7 million homes (11.8%), about 1 in 8, saw signs of mice or rats inside the home in the past 12 months.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 27
Mice or rats: 23.9% of homes built before 1940 against 4.1% of homes built since 2010, 5.8 times as often.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 28
Among single-family detached houses only, 24.8% of those built before 1940 saw mice or rats, against 4.0% of those built since 2010.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 29
15.7 million homes (11.8%) saw cockroaches in the past 12 months, with rates of 7.8% to 13.5% across age groups.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 30
3.9 million homes (3.0%) had mold covering at least the area of a sheet of letter paper in at least one room in the past 12 months: 4.0% of homes built before 1940 against 1.2% of homes built since 2010.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
What this means: mice and rats are 5.8 times as common in homes built before 1940 as in homes built since 2010, a gap of nearly 20 percentage points, the largest of any problem on this page. For treatment costs, see our pest control statistics and mold remediation statistics.
Owners vs renters
Renters reported most problems more often than owners, especially the ones that make a home hard to live in: cold, lost water, mold and cockroaches. Owners reported outside and basement leaks and mice more often, which fits where they live: 83.7% of owner households are in single-family detached houses, against 27.1% of renter households. Renters here include households living without paying rent, as in Census tables.
Statistic 31
Inside leaks: 10.5% of renter households against 7.3% of owners.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 32
Outside leaks: 9.2% of owners against 8.0% of renters; basement leaks 2.7% against 1.0%.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 33
4.1% of renters against 2.0% of owners who lived in the home last winter were cold for 24 hours or more because the heating broke down: about twice as often.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 34
5.1% of renters against 2.7% of owners were completely without running water at some point in the past 3 months.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 35
Mold: 5.0% of renters against 1.9% of owners. Cockroaches: 17.9% against 8.5%.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
Statistic 36
Mice or rats: 12.3% of owners against 11.0% of renters.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
What this means: the problems that land on renters are the ones a landlord has to fix fast, from a dead furnace to a dry tap. For what plumbing and roof repairs cost in rental homes, see our rental plumbing repair statistics and rental roof repair statistics.
Then and now: 1999 vs 2023
The most recent Census Bureau report we found that broke these problems down by decade built covered the 1999 survey. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 12% of the country's 103 million occupied homes had water leak in from outside in the past 12 months that year, and 19% of homes built before 1940 did. Each age group’s 2023 rate is below its 1999 rate, but the 1999 figures are rounded to whole percents and carry their own sampling error, so only the drops for homes built before 1920 and in the 1980s and 1990s clearly exceed the margins. The gap between old and new homes is still there.
Statistic 37
In 1999, 12% of 103 million occupied US homes had water leak in from outside in the past 12 months.
U.S. Census Bureau, 1999 American Housing Survey
Statistic 38
In 1999, 19% of homes built before 1940 had an outside leak, against 9% of homes built in the 1990s.
U.S. Census Bureau, 1999 American Housing Survey
Statistic 39
In 2023, 8.8% of homes had an outside leak, and 14.9% of homes built before 1940 did.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey
| Year built | Before 1920 | 1920s | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 survey | 20% | 18% | 17% | 15% | 13% | 11% | 10% | 10% | 9% |
| 2023 survey | 14.2% | 15.3% | 15.7% | 13.3% | 11.0% | 9.8% | 8.9% | 7.8% | 6.9% |
1999: U.S. Census Bureau, 1999 American Housing Survey, as published. 2023: RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey; 90% margins of error are 0.7 to 2.4 points per group. The survey was redesigned in 2015, so read the change between years as directional.
What this means: houses built in the 1990s reported outside leaks at 9% when they were new and 6.9% in 2023, so the drop since 1999 is not just a story of new construction. Better roofing and repairs over time are possible reasons, and so is the 2015 redesign, so we read it as a direction, not a precise change.
Every problem by year built
The full 2023 table behind this page: the share of occupied US homes reporting each problem, for all homes and for each age group.
| Problem | All homes | Before 1940 | 1940 to 1959 | 1960 to 1979 | 1980 to 1999 | 2000 to 2009 | 2010 to 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Any water leak (12 months) | 15.4% | 22.5% | 17.9% | 16.5% | 14.7% | 12.1% | 8.2% |
| Leak from outside | 8.8% | 14.9% | 11.7% | 9.3% | 7.4% | 6.2% | 4.2% |
| Roof leak | 4.4% | 6.1% | 5.8% | 4.6% | 4.0% | 3.4% | 2.4% |
| Basement leak (all homes) | 2.1% | 6.5% | 3.7% | 1.9% | 0.9% | 0.7% | 0.4% |
| Walls, windows or doors leak | 1.8% | 2.6% | 2.0% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 1.4% | 1.1% |
| Leak from inside | 8.4% | 10.3% | 8.5% | 9.1% | 9.1% | 7.3% | 4.7% |
| Pipe leak | 3.7% | 4.6% | 4.0% | 4.0% | 4.0% | 2.9% | 1.6% |
| Plumbing backup | 2.0% | 2.2% | 2.2% | 2.3% | 2.1% | 1.5% | 1.2% |
| Broken water heater leak | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 0.7% | 0.4% |
| Heating broke down, cold 24+ hours (last winter) | 2.7% | 4.4% | 3.9% | 3.0% | 1.9% | 1.7% | 1.6% |
| Without running water (3 months) | 3.5% | 3.7% | 3.4% | 3.9% | 3.8% | 2.9% | 2.5% |
| Sewage breakdown (3 months) | 1.2% | 1.4% | 1.3% | 1.6% | 1.3% | 0.8% | 0.6% |
| Fuse blown or breaker tripped (3 months) | 7.8% | 10.1% | 8.2% | 7.9% | 6.9% | 6.1% | 8.8% |
| Signs of mice or rats | 11.8% | 23.9% | 14.5% | 12.4% | 10.2% | 6.3% | 4.1% |
| Cockroaches | 11.8% | 11.4% | 12.1% | 13.5% | 12.7% | 10.4% | 7.8% |
| Mold in any room | 3.0% | 4.0% | 3.4% | 3.5% | 3.1% | 1.8% | 1.2% |
| Homes in group (millions) | 133.2 | 16.3 | 18.0 | 32.4 | 33.7 | 17.7 | 15.0 |
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2023 American Housing Survey, occupied homes. Leaks, pests and mold cover the past 12 months; heating breakdowns are among households that lived in the home last winter. 90% margins of error are 0.1 to 0.4 points for all homes and 0.2 to 1.3 points per age group.
The leak number everyone quotes
One leak statistic that circulates widely online is not about water getting into homes at all. It comes from an earlier version of the EPA's WaterSense program (epa.gov), which counts water wasted through drips, running toilets and leaky faucets. That is a different question from the one the housing survey asks, and the two numbers should not be swapped.
Statistic 40
An earlier version of the EPA's WaterSense leak page stated that ten percent of homes have leaks that waste 90 gallons or more per day, a measure of wasted water rather than water coming into the home.
EPA WaterSense
What this means: if the question is how many homes have water leak in, the answer is the survey's 15.4% in a year, or 8.4% for leaks from inside. EPA's current statistics put household leak waste at about 9,400 gallons a year for the average family, which is a water bill question, not a damage one.
Cite this study
Academic or press use: copy a ready-made reference. RapidEye is the publisher.
Quick FAQ
How common are water leaks in homes?
15.4% of US homes, about 20.5 million, had a water leak in the 12 months before their 2023 American Housing Survey interview. 8.8% had water leak in from outside, through the roof, basement, walls, windows or doors, and 8.4% had water leak in from an inside source, such as pipes, plumbing backups, a broken water heater or a neighboring unit. Some homes had both.
Do older homes have more problems?
Yes. In the 2023 American Housing Survey, 22.5% of homes built before 1940 had a water leak in the past year, against 8.2% of homes built since 2010. Older homes also reported mice or rats (23.9% vs 4.1%), heating breakdowns that left the home cold for 24 hours or more (4.4% vs 1.6%) and mold (4.0% vs 1.2%) far more often. The pattern holds among single-family detached houses alone. Tripped breakers are the exception: homes built since 2010 reported them more often than homes built from 2000 to 2009.
How many homes have mice?
15.7 million US homes, 11.8% or about 1 in 8, saw signs of mice or rats inside the home in the past 12 months, according to the 2023 American Housing Survey. The share was 23.9% for homes built before 1940 and 4.1% for homes built since 2010.
How often do roofs leak?
About 5.8 million US homes, 4.4%, had water leak in through the roof in the past 12 months, making the roof the most common single source of leaks. The rate was 6.1% for homes built before 1940 and 2.4% for homes built since 2010.
Is it true that 1 in 10 homes has a water leak?
That figure comes from an earlier version of the EPA's WaterSense leak page, which said ten percent of homes have leaks that waste 90 gallons or more per day. It measures water wasted through drips and running fixtures, not water coming into the home. EPA's current statistics put household leak waste at about 9,400 gallons a year for the average family. For water actually getting into the home, the 2023 American Housing Survey counts 8.4% of homes with an inside leak and 15.4% with a leak of any kind in the past year.
Do renters have more home problems than owners?
For most problems, yes. In the 2023 American Housing Survey, renters reported inside leaks (10.5% vs 7.3%), heating breakdowns that left them cold for 24 hours or more (4.1% vs 2.0%), losing running water (5.1% vs 2.7%), mold (5.0% vs 1.9%) and cockroaches (17.9% vs 8.5%) more often than owners. Owners reported outside leaks (9.2% vs 8.0%) and mice or rats (12.3% vs 11.0%) more often.
Data sources
Every 2023 figure is our own computation from the Census Bureau's public file; the 1999 and EPA figures are quoted from their publishers and checked against the originals.
U.S. Census Bureau2023 housing survey public use microdata and published totalscensus.govU.S. Census Bureau1999 housing breakdowns briefcensus.gov
EPA WaterSenseHousehold leak water-waste figuresepa.gov