Californians can make do with less — especially when it comes to the size of their yards.
A typical California homeowner in the Golden State lives on a third less land than the average U.S. resident, the Los Angeles Daily News reported, citing figures from LawnStarter.
A survey of 2,000 cities across the nation, including 301 in California, found that non-Californians live on typical lots of 10,000 square feet, or 0.23 acres. Average yardage ranged from 49,658 square feet in Carney, Maryland, to 871 square feet in Boston.
Californians, in comparison, make do with typical yards of 6,900 square feet, or 0.16 acres, when weighted for their populations. Average yardage ranged from Fallbrook’s 37,157 square feet to San Francisco’s 784, according to the Daily News.
In short, Californians live on 30.4 percent less land than their U.S. counterparts. Only 55 of the 301 California cities had typical lots larger than the out-of-state average.
The 10 most populated cities in California had a population-weighted average yard size of 5,300 square feet., or 0.12 acres, according to the Daily News.
In Southern California, they include Los Angeles at 5,314 square feet; San Diego at 5,706 square feet; Fresno at 8,494 square feet; Long Beach at 4,356 square feet; Bakersfield at 8,364 square feet; and Anaheim at 6,142 square feet.
In Northern California, they include San Jose at 4,443 square feet; San Francisco at 784 square feet; Sacramento at 8,320 square feet; and Oakland at 3,833 square feet.
In comparison, residents in the 10 biggest cities outside California averaged lots of 4,200 square feet, or 0.1 acres.
Typical lots in New York were 958 square feet; Chicago at 2,047; Houston at 6,360; Phoenix at 6,970; Philadelphia at 828; San Antonio at 10,019; Dallas at 7,884; Austin at 10,498; Jacksonville at 12,284; and Fort Worth at 8,015 square feet.
Other California cities with smaller yards were mostly located in suburbs of major cities, according to the Daily News.
In Southern California, they include Irvine with typical yards at 3,180 square feet; Seal Beach at 2,919; Manhattan Beach at 2,526; Aliso Viejo at 2,309; and Newport Beach at 2,265.
Cities further away from big cities had bigger typical yards, including Apple Valley at 24,132; Norco at 22,651; and Hesperia at 21,606 square feet, or 0.5 acres.
— Dana Bartholomew
