There Are Nearly 15 Million Vacant Homes in America—Here’s Where Most of Them Are

Vacant housing can conjure up images of run-down homes, overgrown lawns, or boarded-up buildings. They can appear unsafe, unappealing, or even threatening to neighboring property values—yet, not every vacant property is harmful.

There are 14.9 million vacant homes nationwide, according to a new LendingTree study that identifies the highest vacancy rates. The number of vacancies, or vacant homes, varies depending on the part of the country and the population.

Two out of the top three leading the list of vacant-home states can be found in New England.

Maine has the highest vacancies, at 157,467 vacant homes, followed by Vermont (67,606) and Alaska (59,745), according to LendingTree.

LendingTree researchers looked at the U.S. Census Bureau 2023 American Community Survey with five-year estimates and measured the overall vacancy rate in a state by dividing the number of vacant households by the total number of households.

It identified occupied households that included homes owned and rented by occupants who use the home as a primary residence. Vacant households were broken down into several categories: “for rent,” “rented, not occupied,” “for sale only,” “sold, not occupied,” “for seasonal, recreational, or occasional use,” “for migrant workers,” and “other vacant.”

With the U.S. Census methodology, “high vacancy can be the product of relatively small housing markets with relatively high seasonal housing stock,” says Hannah Jones, senior economic research analyst for Realtor.com®. “That is to say, Maine, Vermont, and Alaska have relatively few total homes and relatively high vacation-home markets as a share of all inventory, which leads to a higher vacancy rate.”

No one’s home

Maine has a total of 746,552 housing units, and 157,467 of them are vacant—a whopping 21.09%. Vermont comes in at second place, with 337,072 total housing units, with 67,606 vacant—that’s a 20.06% vacancy rate. Alaska has 327,610 total housing units, of which 59,745 are vacant—a 18.24% vacancy rate.

Maine, Vermont, and Alaska consistently have some of the highest housing vacancy rates because of their popularity as destinations for seasonal tourism and secondary homes. These states attract many visitors during specific seasons, particularly summer. A significant number of homes are purchased as vacation properties, which are occupied for only a portion of the year, leaving them vacant for most other months.

While high vacancy can sometimes indicate economic hardship, in these states, it often coincides with high buyer demand and new construction to satisfy that demand. This means homes are being built or purchased as second homes, rather than for full-time residency. 

Nationwide, the housing vacancy rate stands at around 10.43%—which amounts to nearly 15 million empty homes scattered across the country. At first glance, that figure might suggest an abundance of available housing, but for those actively searching for a place to live, it often doesn’t seem that way—and for good reason.

The study found a significant portion of these vacant properties are not listed for sale or rent. Some are seasonal homes, some are undergoing renovations, and others are simply being held as investments. As a result, the pool of truly available homes is much smaller than the headline number suggests, making the hunt for affordable, accessible housing more challenging than the national stats might imply.

From fourth to 10th place, respectively, these states have some of the highest housing vacancy rates across the country: West Virginia (16.08%), Florida (15.19%), Mississippi (15.08%), Alabama (14.99%), Louisiana (14.84%), New Hampshire (14.45%), and Arkansas (14.00%).

“Home supply, housing demand, and construction activity can all influence vacancy over time,” says Jones. “In general, homeowner vacancy has remained fairly low in the U.S. in recent years as high housing demand met low home supply.

“Rental vacancy was also quite low for a period as high housing costs pushed more households to rent, but significant rental construction has allowed rental vacancy rates to return to healthier levels.”

Lowest vacancy rates

On the other end of the spectrum, the lowest vacancy rate in the U.S can be found in Washington state, which has only 7.42% of housing units vacant. This is followed by Oregon (7.42%) and Connecticut (7.54%).

But it’s all perspective. Washington state has a total of 3,262,667 housing units. Of those units, 242,109 are vacant. The vacancy number is significantly higher than in Maine, which leads the list with the most vacancies. States with the lowest vacancies tend to have higher populations than those with higher rates, creating more demand for housing, leading to lower vacancy rates.