Which state has the most homes built in a factory? 🏡
1Guess
Nearly every house you have been inside was built where it stands: lumber, pipe and wire arrive at an empty lot and a crew puts them together over months. Some homes arrive finished. The Census Bureau describes this kind as “a movable dwelling, 8 feet or more wide and 40 feet or more long, designed to be towed on its own chassis, with transportation gear integral to the unit when it leaves the factory, and without need of a permanent foundation” — a house with its own wheels under it, driven from the plant to the spot where somebody will live in it. Out of every 100 homes counted, which state has the most of them? Tap the states most-to-least.
Tapping assigns 1→4 in order
Big state, big trucks. Texas! 🐾
2Answer
The real order is…
New Mexico — 15.5 % out of every 100 homes counted, more than one home in seven. For the country as a whole the figure is 5.6, so New Mexico runs at nearly three times the national rate — and only 1.08× ahead of Mississippi at 14.4, with South Carolina (14.2) so close behind that the two are a photo finish, and West Virginia (13.6) next. The states you probably shouted are nowhere near: Texas is 23rd, and California does not make the top thirty. And there is a rulebook riding along with these houses. Since one fixed day, “All manufactured homes built in the U.S. after June 15, 1976 must be certified by its manufacturer that it is built in accordance with HUD’s Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards,” and every transportable section leaves the plant wearing “a red certification label.”
📚 BackgroundThe Census Bureau's own definition explains the wheels: a manufactured home is “a movable dwelling, 8 feet or more wide and 40 feet or more long, designed to be towed on its own chassis, with transportation gear integral to the unit when it leaves the factory, and without need of a permanent foundation.” HUD describes the building part: these homes “are built in the controlled environment of a manufacturing plant and are transported in one or more sections on a permanent chassis.” And there is a date the whole industry runs on: “All manufactured homes built in the U.S. after June 15, 1976 must be certified by its manufacturer that it is built in accordance with HUD's Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards” — the HUD Code, which covers “Body and Frame Requirements, Thermal Protection, Plumbing, Electrical, Fire Safety, and other aspects of the home” — and each transportable section leaves the plant showing “a red certification label.”(U.S. Census Bureau, Manufactured Housing Survey FAQs; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Manufactured Home Resources)
Mobile homes as a share of all homes (% of housing units, ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates)
🇺🇸 United States (national)5.6 %
New Mexico#115.5 %
Most: New Mexico (15.5 %); fewest: Hawaii (0.3 %).
Note: from the American Community Survey, which the Census Bureau sends to a sample of addresses, not to every home — so every number here is an estimate published with a give-or-take. These are 5-year estimates, averaging answers from 2020 through 2024, which is why the margins are small: New Mexico 15.5 ±0.3 and Mississippi 14.4 ±0.2 do not overlap, but Mississippi and South Carolina (14.2 ±0.2) do, so second and third place here are too close to call. The share is out of all homes counted, lived-in or empty. Watch the counting rule: “Both occupied and vacant mobile homes to which no permanent rooms have been added are counted in this category” — build a permanent room onto one and the Census moves it to the one-family-house row. Towable recreational vehicles such as travel trailers count here; homes waiting on a dealer’s lot, at the factory or in storage are not counted at all. U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates.
U.S. Census Bureau: American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year profile DP04_0014PE (units in structure — mobile home) (2026-08-26) — Official published survey estimates (the committed raw file is the API response, unchanged). The American Community Survey goes to a sample of addresses, not to every home, so every figure here is an estimate published with a margin of error; these are the 5-year estimates, which average five years of answers (2020–2024) and carry smaller margins than the 1-year figures. The share is out of all housing units counted, occupied and vacant. Census counting rules: “Both occupied and vacant mobile homes to which no permanent rooms have been added are counted in this category,” towable recreational vehicles such as travel trailers count as mobile homes, and homes for sale on a dealer’s lot, at the factory or in storage are not counted at all.
↳ On data.census.gov, open profile table “DP04” for the 2020–2024 ACS 5-year estimates and read DP04_0014PE (Units in structure — Mobile home) by state.