Postwar Suburbia Statistics

Total American population increase during the 1950s: 20%⁵

Percentage of Americans who owned homes in 1934: 44%
... in 1960: 62.1%
... in 2005: 68.9%⁶

The number of single-family houses constructed in 1944: 114,000
...in 1946: 937,000
...in 1948: 1,183,000
...in 1950: 1,692,000
...in 1972: 2,360,000
...in 2005: 2,060,000⁷

Number of U.S. births per every 1000 people in 1935: 18.7 per 1000
... in 1943: 22 per 1000
... in 2000: 14.7 per 1000
... in 2007: 14.2 per 1000⁸

Number of black residents allowed to purchase or rent homes in Levittown, New York in the 1950s: zero
Out of a total population of 53,000, the number of black residents living in Levittown, New York in 1990: 127⁹

The first year in which suburban residents of single-family homes outnumbered those living in cities and rural regions: 1960
(Today, suburban residents outnumber all urban and rural dwellers combined.)¹⁰

The number of homes with television sets in 1950: 5 million
...in 1960: 45 million
...in 2005: 100 million¹¹

Population decline in Chicago between 1950 and 1990: 23% decrease
... in Washington, D.C.: 24% decrease

... in Detroit: 44% decrease
... in Cleveland: 45% decrease
... in St. Louis: 54% decrease¹²