What is your average number of residents per unit?

I know that this is a tricky question and it depends upon the type of community. The problem is that I am trying to justify my numbers to some investors and can not find out how many residents are living in a 320-unit community. I have assumed that there are lots of two-bedroom units and then some one- and three-bedroom units as well as some studios. Just guessing, I estimated that about 2.3 people live in an "average" unit.

Any help you could provide would be helpful and appreciated!

Andrew - I think you are probably a little low with that number. I have a 244 unit property, the dominance of units are 2 bedrooms, and we average 3 people per unit on 2 bedrooms. I think a stronger determinant for your question may be the mean income level of the property.

Thanks. That helps a lot! I am glad I was underestimating as the higher the number the better. My guess is that it will come in close to three per unit.

I have 83 units and 164 people in my building, which averages out to about 2 residents per unit (and only 106 parking spots, but that's a whole 'nother story.) I have 39 two bedroom units and 44 one bedroom units.

Andrew, You should be able to get an exact number from your leases. Most leases list the names of the lease holders plus occupants.

Thanks Gerry, but I am a vendor, not a leasing professional.

Thanks Rose! I appreciate your help. So far I have a 3.0 and a 2.0 and my 2.5 is looking pretty accurate. Hoping to get some more responses to get a true sense of what number I should use to assess the total number of residents I will be serving.

Andrew,
I have had this same question come across my desk when dealing with a property purchase. In Texas, I contacted one of the local Apartment Locating Companies to obtain a unit breakdown. Most Locating Companies have a unit matrix that breaks down each floor plan style and the total number of units on property. Each state should have its occupancy limit per apartment, usually this is something the Fire Department will have if you are not 100% sure. In Dallas, the rule is a maximum of 2 persons per bedroom (Studios and 1 bed = 2 persons, 2 bed = 4 persons, 3 bed = 6 persons), and a 1 bed/study allows for 3 persons seeing as the study can be an option small bedroom as long as there is a door that can close.

Once I have the unit breakdown, I can estimate a high and low population on the property. This is the best way I have found to get an estimate on the total population and then an average per unit. I hope this helps!

Thanks for your help! This helps me to get a ballpark number and I am thinking it is close to what you are saying. Hoping to get lots of answers as the more data in the sample, the better chance of being close to the actual number.

How can find out the maximum amount of residents that can legally live in my apartment complex? I know there were some dialogues up above about the Fire Department having some numbers and that it may be on my lease, but where? Thank you.

This is an old thread so I don't know if I will get an answer to my similar question, but I have more details:
- The location is downtown NYC, where the average population is 2.5 people per unit.
- The average # of BRs in the building is 2.2 (we have some 3 and 4 BRs too)
What then should be the average number of people in the average unit of 2.2BRs?

Thanks for all your help, if you are still there