Nationally, the number of people in shared households has risen since the onset of the most recent economic recession.1 This brief uses data from the American Community Survey (ACS) to explore the growth in shared households at the state level between 2007 and 2011. Comparisons are also made between 2010 and 2011. The report provides summary statistics on people sharing households, particularly their age and
relationship to the householder. Finally, the report explores whether or not household sharing is influenced by economic circumstances by comparing three different poverty estimates.