November 13, 2024

x08x

Body and Interior

These are the top 10 most popular US states for living in a tiny home

These are the top 10 most popular US states for living in a tiny home
An Icon 3D-printed tiny home in Austin, Texas, in 2019.

Katie Canales/Business Insider

  • Home improvement site HomeAdvisor found the 10 most popular US states for tiny home living.

  • The site zeroed in on the states with the most Instagram posts that were tagged with the #tinyliving hashtag.

  • Some of the best US states for tiny living include California, Florida, and Texas.

  • The tiny home movement has gained traction in the US in recent years, offering a lifestyle that’s potentially less expensive, more mobile, and more sustainable.

  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

The tiny home movement has captured the hearts of Americans in recent years.

Tiny homes are defined as abodes that are under 400 square feet. The movement has picked up steam, with many opting for the tiny lifestyle to save money or to be able to travel freely. Sustainable energy use and waste systems are also key drivers, though the tiny home life isn’t always as glamorous as it looks.

A 2020 report from home improvement site HomeAdvisor zeroed in on the most popular states for the tiny home life — or at least the states with the most active tiny home Instagrammers. HomeAdvisor scraped Instagram for posts tagged with the #tinyliving hashtag and tagged somewhere in each state, such as in a city or a restaurant. It also considered the amount of activity the posts got through comments and likes. The site didn’t factor in posts that didn’t have a location tag.

Here are the top 10 most popular US states for tiny living, according to HomeAdvisor.

10. Utah

The inside of a tiny home in the US.
The inside of a tiny home in the US.

Mike Morgan/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

HomeAdvisor found 1,613 photos tagged in Utah or roughly 3% of all photos scraped by the home improvement website in the US.

Tiny homeowners are tasked with making sure that zoning ordinances in their desired location allow them to legally live in the small abodes.

According to a 2018 Daily Herald report, Utah was a bit slow to adjust city codes to accommodate smaller homes. But progress has been made in recent years, and now the state is riding the tiny home train full throttle.

9. New York

A "tiny house" holiday lodge in the Catskills, New York, in June 2017.
A “tiny house” holiday lodge in the Catskills, New York, in June 2017.

Christina Horsten/picture alliance via Getty Images

The report found 1,787 photos with the hashtag #tinyliving in the state of New York.

State officials recently adopted Appendix Q: Tiny Houses, a measure legitimizing safe building standards for 400-square-foot houses on foundations, according to B&B Tiny Houses. The appendix became law earlier this year.

8. North Carolina

A tiny house in the US.
A tiny house in the US.

Mike Morgan/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

According to a 2019 memo from the North Carolina Department of Insurance, “tiny homes are acceptable as permanent single-family dwellings in North Carolina provided they meet the following minimum requirements.”

Tiny home builders in the state, like Wishbone Tiny Homes in Asheville, offer various models and customization options.

7. Arizona

A gr
ain silo-turned tiny home in Phoenix, Arizona.
A grain silo-turned tiny home in Phoenix, Arizona.

Matt Winquist for Zillow

About 4% of the total posts scraped in the US were tagged in Arizona.

According to Construction Dive, Pima County — which includes the city of Tucson — eased regulations for houses that measured less than 400 square feet in 2016. However, those new regulations didn’t include mobile tiny homes.

Since then, the state has embraced tiny home villages.

 

6. Washington

A tiny home in Washington.
A tiny home in Washington.

Marcus Ricci for Zillow

HomeAdvisor found 2,674 photos with both the Washington State location tag and the #tinyliving hashtag.

About 16% of those photos were taken in Seattle. The city has been seized by a housing and affordability crisis, and downsizing to tiny homes has been an economic necessity for many.

 

5. Oregon

The interior of a tiny home.
The interior of a tiny home.

ppa/Shutterstock

According to the HomeAdvisor report, tiny living is popular in cities known for the arts. Oregon may be No. 5 on the list, but Portland comes out as the most popular US city for tiny living, with almost 700 photos.

Austin, Texas, and Sarasota, Florida, are right behind it, with 600 and 546 photos, respectively.

Residents in big cities like Portland may be driven to the tiny home movement due to the high costs of living associated with urban environments.

4. Texas

An Icon 3D-printed tiny home in Austin, Texas, in 2019.
An Icon 3D-printed tiny home in Austin, Texas, in 2019.

Katie Canales/Business Insider

Nearly 7% of the Instagram posts scraped by HomeAdvisor with the hashtag were in the Lone Star State. About 16% of the state’s posts were located in Austin, Texas.

A slew of tiny home communities has cropped up in recent years as Austin, like many US metro areas, has grappled with a housing crisis.

 

3. Colorado

A tiny home village in Denver, Colorado, in 2017.
A tiny home village in Denver, Colorado, in 2017.

Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Almost 8% of all posts scraped in the US were in Colorado, and 12% of those were located in Denver.

There’s even an annual Colorado Tiny House Festival held in Brighton that showcases tiny homes of all shapes and designs.

As Denver Westword notes, the tiny home movement has gained traction in Colorado specifically perhaps due to the variety of outdoor activities. When tiny homeowners are saving money by downsizing, they’re more so able to spend it on skiing and the like if they wish.

2. Florida

A tiny home in the US in 2019.
A tiny home in the US in 2019.

DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images

HomeAdvisor found 4,466 Instagram posts in Florida.

About 9% of those posts were in Orlando, where tiny house communities like Orlando Lakefront allow tiny homeowners to more easily park their house legally as Insider’s Frank Olito reported.

Sarasota, Florida, is also the third most popular US city for tiny living according to the report. About 12% of the state’s posts, or 546, were tagged in the city.

1. California

A United Dwelling tiny home.
A United Dwelling tiny home.

United Dwelling

The Golden State is the most popular US state for the tiny living movement according to the report, with nearly 15.5% of the total posts scraped. There were high concentrations of tiny living posts tagged in Los Angeles and San Diego, specifically.

City officials throughout the state have turned to tiny home villages as solutions for a homelessness crisis, a crushing housing shortage, and sky-high rent in big cities.

Startups have leaned into the movement as well — United Dwelling will turn your garage or unused backyard space into an affordable tiny home that can be rented out, with the income going to the homeowners.

Read the original article on Business Insider