There's no question that most Americans suffer from obesity. Face it, we're fat. And so are our homes, at least when measured by the number of bedrooms.

According to the latest data from the Census Bureau, one in five occupied houses in 2005 had at least four bedrooms.

Utah, Census says, has more four-or-more bedroom houses that any other state. Nearly four out of every 10 houses in Utah has at least four sleeping rooms. Maryland ranks second at just under three out of every 10, followed by Virginia at 26.5 percent, Minnesota at 26.2 percent, and North Dakota at 26.1 percent.

The top four states have some very strong housing markets, especially at the upper end of the price spectrum where bigger is supposedly better. But North Dakota? Who would have thunk it?

On a count-by-by-county basis, Davis County, Utah, has the most four-or-more houses. Nearly half the homes there have at least four bedrooms. But Forsyth County, Ga., isn't far behind at 48.5 percent

Other counties with a large percentage of home with four or more bedrooms include: Fayette County, Ga. (45.5), Loudoun County, Va. (44.6); Stafford County, Va. (43.8); and Utah County, Utah (45.7).

City-wise, the places with the most four bedrooms or more are Sandy, Utah, where almost two thirds of the houses had at least four bedrooms as of 2005. The next closest city was Sugar Land, Texas, where more than half the houses had at least four sleeping rooms.

Bedroom data is among the dozens of housing topics that can be localized from the American Community Survey. Here are some other housing facts you might find interesting:

• Single-family homes are the most common type of housing, comprising 62.7 percent of the nation's housing stock as of 2005. But single-family houses represent more than 80 percent of the country's owner-occupied units.

• Apartments, the second-most common housing type overall (12 percent), are not nearly as popular. But in some places, they dominate. More than 42 percent of the housing units in the District of Columbia are apartments, for example.

  About half of all the dwelling units in Alexandria, Va., across the Potomac from D.C. are in apartment buildings with 10 or more units. And the percentage is even higher in Miami Beach, Fla., where three out of every four dwellings in an apartment. In New York City, 54.2 percent of the housing stock is in apartments with 10 or more units.

• The category comprising mobile homes or other types of housing, such as RVs and houseboats, was the third most common. Nearly one in five homes in New Mexico and South Carolina were mobile homes (17.4 percent and 18 percent, respectively).

  Regionally, three-fourths of the nation's mobile homes were found in the South (56.1 percent) and West (20.2 percent). The remaining quarter were in the Midwest (16.2 percent) and Northeast (7.5 percent).

• Townhouses were the fourth most common housing type. They represent only 5.8 percent of the nation's housing stock. But they are big in many places because they allow builders to put up more units on less land and are therefore more affordable than single-family homes.

  The highest percentages of townhouses are in Washington, D.C. (26.4 percent); Maryland (20.1); Pennsylvania (18.1); Delaware (13.4) and Virginia (10.3).

In closing, you might wonder why the Census Bureau goes to all this trouble to churn out these and other figures? The reason is simple: The data collected by the American Community Survey helps federal officials determine where to distribute more than $200 billion to state and local governments each year.

Published: May 30, 2007

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When Lew Sichelman first started writing about housing in 1969, he was the youngest real estate writer in the country. Now, 37 years later, he's one of the oldest -- and most decorated. He has been rated the top housing columnist in the country by the National Association of Realtors as well as by his peers in the National Association of Real Estate Editors. Indeed, NAREE has recognized his work on numerous occasions. One year - due to his advancing age, he can't recall which one - he earned top honors in the annual NAREE Journalism Contest in three out of the four major writing categories. It was the first time one writer has won so many NAREE awards in a single year. Known for his ability to make even the most difficult topics understandable, Sichelman also has been honored by the National Association of Home Builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association. He began providing in-depth coverage of and consumer-oriented information about housing and housing finance at the Washington Daily News, where he was real estate editor. He held that same position for nine more years at the Washington Star, which purchased the News in 1972. The Star, a so-called "writer's newspaper" which also had the misfortune of being an evening paper, was put out of its misery in 1981, and Sichelman, who had begun self-syndicating his column in 1978, decided to become a full-time columnist. Today, his column, "The Housing Scene," is distributed by United Media to newspapers throughout the country. He also is on the staff of National Mortgage News, an independent newspaper which is considered the bible of the mortgage business. And he writes for numerous other publications, including MarketWatch.com, where he answers readers questions once a week, Sports Illustrated (don't ask), RealtyTimes.com, BigBuilder and others. Sichelman is married, the father of five and grandfather of eleven.