Natural gas

Electricity

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Oil

Natural gas

Electricity

Propane

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Oil

U.S. home heating is fractured in surprising ways: Look up your neighborhood

The split shows that much of the South, and rural America, could ditch fossil fuels easier than big cities and the coasts

Until recently, you might not have focused much on whether you need gas, oil or electricity to warm your house. But in America’s highly fractured energy landscape, the surprising ways our home heating is split could speed — or slow — our shift away from fossil fuels.

There are four main ways that Americans heat their homes: electricity, natural gas, propane or fuel oil. The vast majority of U.S. homes, nearly 90 percent, get their warmth from either electricity — in the form of old, inefficient electric resistance heaters or new, more efficient heat pumps — or from natural gas that is piped into homes and burned in a natural gas furnace. The remaining homes use propane — a fossil fuel created by natural gas processing or oil refining — or fuel oil, both of which need to be delivered to homes by truck.

Share of homes heated with ...

Electricity

Propane

Oil

Wood

Other

Natural gas

47%

5%

2%

2%

40%

4%

Source: 2017-2021 American Community Survey

Share of homes heated with ...

Electricity

Propane

Oil

Wood

Other

Natural gas

47%

5%

2%

2%

40%

4%

Source: 2017-2021 American Community Survey

Share of homes heated with ...

Electricity

Propane

Oil

Wood

Other

Natural gas

47%

5%

2%

2%

40%

4%

Source: 2017-2021 American Community Survey

Share of homes heated with ...

Electricity

Wood

Other

Natural gas

Propane

Oil

47%

2%

40%

5%

4%

2%

Source: 2017-2021 American Community Survey

But these fuels are not evenly distributed across the entire country.

Thanks to a combination of local climates, electricity prices and historical accident, America’s home heating system, like the country’s politics, is deeply divided. In the South, thanks to government funding from almost a century ago and mild climates, many rely on electricity to stay warm. The Midwest is dominated by natural gas and, in rural areas, propane. In the Northeast, despite high prices and inconvenience, fuel oil still heats many homes.

Map shows fuel most used

for home heating

Oil

Propane

Natural

gas

Boston

New York

Chicago

D.C.

Atlanta

Dallas

Electricity

Houston

Miami

Seattle

Wood

San Francisco

Denver

Los Angeles

Oil

Map shows fuel most used

for home heating

Oil

Propane

Natural gas

Minneapolis

Boston

New York

Philadelphia

Chicago

D.C.

St. Louis

Atlanta

Dallas

Electricity

New Orleans

Houston

Miami

Seattle

Wood

San Francisco

Denver

Los Angeles

Phoenix

Oil

Anchorage

Honolulu

Map shows fuel most used

for home heating

Seattle

Oil

Propane

Natural

gas

Minneapolis

Boston

New York

Chicago

San Francisco

D.C.

Denver

St. Louis

Los Angeles

Atlanta

Phoenix

Dallas

Oil

Electricity

Houston

Anchorage

Honolulu

Miami

Seattle

Oil

Map shows fuel most used

for home heating

Propane

Natural gas

Minneapolis

Minneapolis

Boston

Wood

New York

Philadelphia

Chicago

Chicago

San Francisco

San Francisco

Denver

Denver

D.C.

St. Louis

St. Louis

Los Angeles

Los Angeles

San Diego

San Diego

Phoenix

Phoenix

Atlanta

Atlanta

Dallas

Dallas

Electricity

New

Orleans

Oil

Houston

Houston

Anchorage

Honolulu

Miami

Seattle

Oil

Propane

Map shows fuel most used

for home heating

Natural gas

Minneapolis

Boston

Wood

Detroit

New York

Philadelphia

Chicago

San Francisco

Denver

Washington, D.C.

St. Louis

Los Angeles

San Diego

Phoenix

Atlanta

Dallas

Electricity

Oil

Houston

New Orleans

Tampa

Anchorage

Honolulu

Miami

How did something as simple as how we heat our homes become so fractured — and what will that mean as the country struggles to move away from fossil fuels?

The country’s map of home heating shows that, as the Biden administration works to electrify America, the regions that will have the easiest time — and save the most cash in the process — are ones where many politicians don’t embrace President Biden’s policies.

Search the map See how homes are heated in your neighborhood

Hover on the map to explore the data
Enter a city
Map shows the fuel most used in each census tract
Note: Shares of homes are estimates based on a sample of the population. Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.

Take the South, for example. In 1960, only 2 percent of homes in the United States were heated by electricity. By 2000, around 29 percent were — and most of them were in the South.

Lucas Davis, an energy economist at the University of California at Berkeley, says that the South’s climate and energy costs spurred rapid adoption of electric heating. Starting in the 1960s, when developers were building new homes across the South, electricity prices started to fall significantly — due in part to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s generous power supply. Today, electricity in the South still tends to be cheaper than in many other areas of the country.

At the same time, the South’s mild winters also made electricity an attractive option. “You need less heat in the Southeast,” Davis said. Natural gas, he explained, is generally cheaper than electric resistance per unit of heating — but it comes with much higher capital costs. In a region where heat might only be required for a month or two out of the year, electric heating wins out financially. “Energy prices,” Davis said, “are by far the most important factor.”

In colder regions of the country, however, the calculus was different. When homes were being built across the Midwest and Northeast, electric heating was still limited to expensive electric resistance heaters or first-generation heat pumps, which didn’t work when temperatures dipped below freezing. (Modern air-source heat pumps now function well below freezing temperatures.)

That left a few viable options: natural gas in pipelines or truck-delivered liquid fuels such as propane or fuel oil. In more urban areas, natural gas made financial sense. Natural gas pipelines are capital-intensive: Laying a pipeline to service five homes on a one-mile stretch doesn’t make much financial sense, but laying a pipeline to service 1,000 homes could bring in tons of cash.

Share of homes using natural gas and electricity in counties with cold vs. warm winters

Average winter low temperature More electricity usedWarmer wintersMore natural gas usedWarmer wintersMore natural gas usedColder wintersMore electricity usedColder winters More natural gas More electricity

Note: Circle size represents the number of homes in each county. Counties in Hawaii are not shown.

“The question becomes — is it dense enough for us to build the gas infrastructure?” said Lacey Tan, a manager for carbon-free buildings at the energy think tank RMI. “And not just population density, but how connected the homes are in a region.”

Homes using fuel oil or propane, on the other hand, often sat in rural areas without an easy connection to a natural gas network. And in the Northeast, many homes were also built before 1920 — a time when fuel oil furnaces were commonplace in new construction.

West

More natural gas More electricity

Note: Each circle is a county.

Northeast

Midwest

South

There is an irony to America’s current home heating map. The areas that now depend on natural gas — urban, heavily populated areas in states such as New York, California, Illinois — also tend to have the most Democratic voters. In these blue states and urban centers, climate-focused Democrats are trying to ban gas hookups in new buildings.

This means that the areas with politicians most willing to ditch fossil fuels also face the most entrenched interests opposed to it. The switch from natural gas to a heat pump will often save money, but the amounts saved vary by location: In bitterly cold areas, homeowners may also require a backup source of heat that costs more. “The economics get a bit harder to pinpoint,” Tan said.

On the other hand, Republican strongholds — the South and rural areas around the country — stand to gain the most from switching to electricity in general, and heat pumps in particular. In the South, where homes are already electrified, switching from old resistance heaters to heat pumps would save homeowners money. Heat pumps, because they move heat instead of creating it, are on average three to four times more efficient than resistance heaters. They also provide built-in air conditioners.

Share of homes using ...

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0%

100%

Boston

Minneapolis

Chicago

San Francisco

Denver

Washington, D.C.

Los Angeles

Atlanta

Dallas

Houston

Electricity

Seattle

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100%

Denver

Washington, D.C.

Phoenix

Atlanta

Dallas

Houston

Tampa

Propane

0%

100%

Seattle

Minneapolis

San Francisco

Denver

Chicago

Oil

0%

100%

Boston

Anchorage

Wood

0%

100%

Los Angeles

Albuquerque

Phoenix

Anchorage

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Natural gas

0%

100%

Minneapolis

Boston

San Francisco

Chicago

Denver

Washington, D.C.

Los Angeles

Atlanta

Dallas

Houston

Electricity

Seattle

0%

100%

Denver

Washington, D.C.

Phoenix

Atlanta

Dallas

Houston

Tampa

Propane

Seattle

100%

0%

Minneapolis

San Francisco

Denver

Chicago

Oil

0%

100%

Boston

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100%

Albuquerque

Los Angeles

Phoenix

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100%

Minneapolis

Boston

Chicago

San Francisco

Washington, D.C.

Denver

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100%

Seattle

Chicago

Washington, D.C.

Denver

Phoenix

Atlanta

Dallas

Houston

Tampa

Propane

100%

0%

Seattle

Minneapolis

Chicago

San Francisco

Denver

Oil

0%

100%

Boston

Anchorage

Wood

100%

0%

Los Angeles

Albuquerque

Phoenix

Anchorage

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Electricity

Seattle

0%

100%

0%

100%

Minneapolis

Boston

San Francisco

Washington, D.C.

Chicago

Denver

Washington, D.C.

Los Angeles

Atlanta

Phoenix

Atlanta

Dallas

Dallas

Houston

Houston

Tampa

Propane

Oil

Seattle

100%

0%

0%

100%

Boston

Minneapolis

San Francisco

Chicago

Denver

Anchorage

Wood

100%

0%

Los Angeles

Albuquerque

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Anchorage

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Natural gas

Electricity

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Seattle

100%

0%

100%

Minneapolis

Boston

San Francisco

Chicago

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Denver

Los Angeles

Phoenix

Atlanta

Atlanta

Dallas

Dallas

Houston

Houston

Tampa

Propane

Oil

Seattle

100%

0%

0%

100%

Boston

Minneapolis

San Francisco

Chicago

Denver

Anchorage

Wood

100%

0%

Los Angeles

Albuquerque

Phoenix

Anchorage

In rural areas, moving away from fuel oil and propane will also save cash. According to the nonprofit Rewiring America, homes currently heated by fuel oil will save, on average, $949 per year by transitioning to an electric heat pump; those heated by propane will save around $680 a year. For those homeowners, switching to heat pumps is “a no-brainer. It’s a win,” Tan said.

But the transition won’t be easy. In many cold areas of the country, people have been told for years that heat pumps or electric heating won’t keep them fully warm. Contractors aren’t always knowledgeable about heat pumps or how to install them. In places where the economics are more marginal — that is, in places mostly heated by natural gas — more incentives might be needed at the local or state level. The federal government has provided one: The Inflation Reduction Act has offered $2,000 tax credits for heat pumps and will soon add upfront rebates for low-income households.

Ultimately, to meet the nation’s goals of zeroing out carbon pollution, every home currently heated by natural gas, propane or fuel oil needs to be moved over to electricity. And the electricity grid also needs to be shifted to cleaner sources such as wind, solar and geothermal energy, to ensure that the electricity flowing to those heat pumps doesn’t warm the planet.

But disparate areas of the country face different challenges — and that will shape who can move fastest in the race to electrify. “There needs to be more thought put into certain regions,” Tan said. “But that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.”

About this story

Average winter low temperatures (1991-2020) are from NOAA Monthly U.S. Climate Divisional Database.

Editing by Monica Ulmanu and Juliet Eilperin. Copy editing by Susan Doyle.

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