Americans have long expressed a modest preference for communities with bigger houses – even if that means schools, stores and restaurants are farther away – over communities with smaller houses that are closer to those services.

We surveyed 8,512 U.S. adults from Jan. 20 to 26, 2026. Everyone who took this survey is part of the Center’s American Trends Panel. The survey reflects the views of all U.S. adults. Here are our survey questions, the detailed responses and the survey methodology.