The residential vacancy rate is the percentage of residential units that are unoccupied, or vacant, in a given year. The U.S. Census Bureau defines occupied housing units as “owner-occupied” or “renter-occupied.” Vacant housing units are not classified by tenure in this way, as they are not occupied by an owner or renter.
The residential vacancy rate serves as an indicator of the condition of the area’s housing market. Low residential vacancy rates indicate that demand for housing is high compared to the housing supply. However, the aggregate residential vacancy rate is lacking in granularity. For example, the housing market for rental units in the area and the market for buying a unit in the same area may be very different, and the aggregate rate will not show those distinct conditions. Furthermore, the vacancy rate may be high, or low, for a variety of reasons. A high vacancy rate may result from a falling population, but it may also result from a recent construction spree that added many units to the total stock.
The residential vacancy rate in Champaign County appears to have fluctuated between 8% and 14% from 2005 through 2022, reaching a peak near 14% in 2019. In 2023, this rate dropped to about 7%, its lowest value since 2005. However, this rate was calculated using the American Community Survey’s (ACS) estimated number of vacant houses per year, which has year-to-year fluctuations that are largely not statistically significant. Thus, we cannot establish a trend for this data.
The residential vacancy rate data shown here was calculated using the estimated total housing units and estimated vacant housing units from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, which are released annually.
As with any datasets that are estimates rather than exact counts, it is important to take into account the margins of error (listed in the column beside each figure) when drawing conclusions from the data.
Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of providing the standard 1-year data products, the Census Bureau released experimental estimates from the 1-year data in 2020. This includes a limited number of data tables for the nation, states, and the District of Columbia. The Census Bureau states that the 2020 ACS 1-year experimental tables use an experimental estimation methodology and should not be compared with other ACS data. For these reasons, and because data is not available for Champaign County, no data for 2020 is included in this Indicator.
For interested data users, the 2020 ACS 1-Year Experimental data release includes a dataset on Occupancy Status.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25002, generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (17 October 2024).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2022 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25002, generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (25 September 2023).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2021 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25002, generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (4 October 2022).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2019 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25002, generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (8 June 2021).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2018 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25002, generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (8 June 2021).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2017 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25002, generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (13 September 2018).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2016 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25002, generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (14 September 2017).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2015 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25002, generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (19 September 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2014 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25002; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2013 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table SB25002; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2012 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25002; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25002; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2010 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25002; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2009 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25002; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25002; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2007 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25002; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2006 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25002; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2005 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25002; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).
