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Sept. 22, 2020 — Falls Church, VA — More Americans live in community associations today than ever before, according to new research published by the Foundation for Community Association Research. The 2019-2020 National and State Statistical Review for Community Association Data shows that 73.9 million Americans, or roughly 27% of the U.S. population, now live in a homeowners association, condominium community, or housing cooperative, collectively referred to as community associations or planned communities.

The annual Statistical Review is produced in conjunction with Community Associations Institute (CAI), the leading international authority in community association education, governance, and management. For more than 40 years, the Foundation has published the National and State Statistical Review for Community Association Data as part of the Community Association Fact Book. The report is the only one of its kind—using American Community Survey (ACS) and American Housing Survey (AHS) data to better align state-level community association research.

According to the new report, based on data collected in 2019, California now leads the nation with 49,200 associations. Florida has the second most associations with 48,500, followed by Texas (21,000), Illinois (18,800), North Carolina (14,100), and New York (14,000). Last year, there were roughly 351,000 community associations in the U.S., and the Foundation estimates that number in 2020 has grown to between 352,000 and 354,000.

Community associations have been growing consistently and successfully for decades. The overwhelming majority (89%) of homeowners and condominium association residents rate their overall experience living in a community association as “very good” (40%), “good” (30%), or “neutral” (19%), according to results from the 2020 Homeowner Satisfaction Survey, also produced by the Foundation.

Additional results from the Statistical Review show the value of homes in community associations is nearly $7.2 trillion, and roughly $96 billion in assessments is collected annually from homeowners to fund essential maintenance.

Since its inception, this exclusive report by the Foundation has been sourced by community association stakeholders—homeowners, board members, and management professionals as well as attorneys, accountants, developers, mortgage lenders, federal agencies, and public officials—all who work with the Foundation and CAI to build better communities.

The report details top reasons for the growth of community associations:

▪ The value of collective management. Americans largely have accepted the collective management structure of community association living, where association boards are composed of democratically elected homeowners who voluntarily serve their communities. The research shows there are 2.4 million community association board and committee members in the U.S. performing 86.7 million hours of volunteer service annually.

▪ Privatizing public functions. With many local municipalities facing fiscal challenges, communities often are developed with the stipulation that the builder create an association that will assume many responsibilities that traditionally belonged to local and state government (e.g., road maintenance, snow and trash removal, and stormwater management). According to the report, 77% percent of new housing built for sale is in a community association—with homeowners contributing $27.4 billion to association reserve funds for the repair, replacement, and enhancement of common property (e.g., swimming pools, elevators, and resurfacing streets).

▪ Expanding affordable housing. There has been a consistent effort to increase the percentage of homeowners in the U.S., and since the 1960s, condominiums have tended to serve as lower-cost entry housing, especially for first-time homebuyers. Condominium communities account for 35–40% of the reported total of community associations.

To view the full report, visit foundation.caionline.org.

The information in the Community Association Fact Book was developed with significant assistance from Clifford J. Treese, CIRMS. Treese is a past president of both CAI and the Foundation.

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About Community Associations Institute 
Since 1973, Community Associations Institute (CAI) has been the leading provider of resources and information for homeowners, volunteer board leaders, professional managers, and business professionals in the more than 350,000 homeowners associations, condominiums, and housing cooperatives in the United States and millions of communities worldwide. With more than 42,000 members, CAI works in partnership with 36 legislative action committees and 64 affiliated chapters within the U.S., Canada, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates as well as with housing leaders in several other countries, including Australia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. A global nonprofit 501(c)(6) organization, CAI is the foremost authority in community association management, governance, education, and advocacy. Our mission is to inspire professionalism, effective leadership, and responsible citizenship—ideals reflected in community associations that are preferred places to call home. Visit us at www.caionline.org and follow us on Twitter and Facebook @CAISocial.

About the Foundation for Community Association Research

Our mission—with your support—is to provide research-based information for homeowners, community association board members, community managers, developers, and other stakeholders. Since the Foundation’s inception in 1975, we’ve built a solid reputation for producing accurate, insightful, and timely information, and we continue to build on that legacy. Visit foundation.caionline.org.