Homes that heat with wood: data by state

I wrote in our LinkedIn Newsletter article last week about the trends of decreasing use of wood as a source for home heating. From the nearly 133 million homes surveyed in the American Community Survey by the US Census Bureau, approximately 1.77 million US households heat their homes with wood.

The states with the largest percentage of homes that heat with wood are located in northern New England and the northern Rocky Mountains. Each of these states has plenty of trees and forests to provide a fuel source.

In the American Community Survey, homeowners are asked of the primary source of heating used in their homes. The survey has collected data for a number of years, providing a useful data set for trend analysis. Homeowners can report their primary heating method as one of the following sources:

• Utility gas,
• Bottled, tank, or LP gas,
• Electricity,
• Fuel oil, kerosene, etc.,
• Coal or coke,
• Wood, or
• Solar energy.

In total, 1.3% of US households use wood as their primary heating source. The state with the largest portion of its residents heating with wood is Vermont, where 13.8% of all homes indicate using wood as the primary heating source. Maine comes in second with 9.4% of homes using wood, followed by several northern states. Most states have a small number of homes heating with wood, particularly as you move south:

The number of homes in the US that heat with wood has seen a decline since 2010. (See the LinkedIn Newsletter article for more on that.) But it’s worth looking more into trends within individual states. While trends have shown a decrease since 2010, a few observations are worth pointing out when investigating the twelve states with the greatest proportion of homes that heat with wood:

• States in the Pacific Northwest (e.g., Oregon, Washington) have seen wood use decline sharply since 2020.
• There was a sharp increase in use of wood as a home heating source in 2020 for some states (e.g., Wisconsin, Vermont).
• States with low populations (e.g., Wyoming, Alaska) show consistent trends in wood use, but may be related to lower sample sizes in the survey.

The largest gain in home energy heating has come through electric sources. With the exception of two states in the US Northeast (Vermont and New Hampshire), electricity as a primary heating source has seen the largest increase in use in homes:

It should be noted that the American Community Survey asks only about the primary heating source used. Wood is also used as a secondary heating source in wood stoves, fireplaces, pellet stoves, and other heating sources.

While fewer homes heat with wood compared to 13 years ago, it is important to recognize its value in many regions.Wood is a sustainable resource if it is sourced from a well-managed forest. Homeowners that heat with wood can also support local economies, as wood is often sourced from nearby forests and supports jobs in the local community.

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By Matt Russell. Sign up for our monthly LinkedIn Newsletter for news, comments, and insights for professionals that work with forests and data