Are you looking for full time RV statistics?
Simply browsing through social media, you will find that van life and full-time RVing are becoming much more popular. The popularity of full-time RVers is due to millennials, who have used social media to broadcast this more minimalistic and adventurous lifestyle.
Still, full-time RVing is nothing new. In fact, baby boomers still make up the vast majority of RVers, including those who RV full-time. This makes full-time RVing very interesting since the statistics go against most people’s conception of it.
To find out more about full-time RVing, keep reading. In this article, we provide you all the statistics you should know about full-time RVing, including the average age, household, working status, and more. Let’s dive right in.
Table of Contents
Full-Time RV Statistics to Know
Full-time RVing is becoming more popular among many demographics. As a result, it is being studied quite a bit, both by experts and those interested on the internet.
Currently, there are about a million full-time RVers in the States.
Florida tends to be one of the most popular destinations because it has no state income tax.
👉 The monthly cost for full-time RV living is around $1400 to $3000 a month.
Let’s take a look at some more full-time RV statistics based on age, household, state, and more.
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Full-Time RVers by Age
Full-time RVing has been increasingly popular amongst millennials and younger generations. It is because of these younger generations that the hashtag #vanlife has been so popular on the internet. You can view a whole lot of full-time RVing experiences by looking online or on social media.
👉 Despite the conception that full-time RVers always belong to the younger generations, the vast majority, at least according to the census, are over 65 years old.
👉 57% of census respondents who RV are over 65 years old.
👉 About half of them, more specifically 48% of them travel full-time and have been doing so for over 15 years.
It’s important to note that this statistic is based on the census. Given that citizens who classify as seniors are more likely to take the census, this could skew the statistics since younger generations are less represented by it.
Still, we can only base our statistics based on the knowledge we have.
Nevertheless, the census suggests that most full-time RVers are of retirement age. The millennials are giving baby boomers a run for their money, however, with the rise of van life on social media and media in general.
👉 These younger generations are typically between the ages of 20s to early 40s.
Here is a closer look at Full-time RVers by age:
| Age Group | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| 18-34 | 4.9% |
| 35-44 | 11% |
| 45-54 | 11.4% |
| 55-64 | 11.1% |
| 65-74 | 8.8% |
| 75+ | 5.5% |
Full-Time RVers by Household
In the table below you can see the full-time RVer by household:
| Household Type | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| Opposite Sex Couples | 76% |
| Household with Pets | 56% |
| Solo Travelers | 16% |
| Households with Children | 3% |
| Same Sex Couples | 2% |
Unsurprisingly, the overwhelming majority of full-time RVers are opposite sex couples with no or few children.
👉 In fact, about 76% of full-time RVers claim to have a two-person household, complete with two people of the opposite sex.
👉 In contrast, only 2% of full-time RVers have a same-sex companion.
It is also incredibly common for full-time RVers to travel with pets. In fact, a whopping 56% of travelers bring their pets along. This includes dogs, cats, hamsters, birds, reptiles, and sugar gliders!
👉 Still, only about 16% of full-time RVers travel solo and most of which are males. We cannot find the specific percentage of male solo travelers, but the vast majority of RVers, in general, are males, though female RVers are on the rise as well.
One of the rarest demographics for full-time RVers includes those with children.
👉 Only about 3% of full-time RVers are willing to travel with their children. More power to those willing to live in closed spaces with children! Still, more people are becoming accustomed to the idea due to COVID-19.
Read also: Can You Live in a Motorhome on Your Property? Here Are The Facts
Full-Time RVers Cost and Working Status
👉 To date, it costs between $1400 and $3000 a month to live in an RV full-time.
This means that the people must either have a retirement fund to handle these living expenses or have some sort of job to support the lifestyle.
Experts believe that full-time RVing is becoming more popular because of technological advances. Because of the internet, more people can sustain their lifestyle while working on the road.
👉 In fact, 25% of full-time RVers work on the road full-time. More surprisingly, about 58% of full-time RVers work at least part time remotely.
Full-Time RVers by State
As we already mentioned, the most popular state for full-time RVers is Florida. Florida is considered one of the cheapest states to relocate to. Plus, it stays warm year around, which makes it more ideal for older populations.
Full-Time RVers Post COVID-19
Initially, COVID-19 negatively impacted the RVing industry whenever super strict regulations were imposed on the States and travel.
However, the industry started booming dramatically whenever different states started loosening their regulations.
Since then, RVing has hit an all time high, including full-time RVers.
👉 By October of 2020, the shipments of RVs increased from previous years by 21%.
👉 This is a shocking fact given that RV shipments were down by 20% in May of the same year.
Looking to the Future
At this point, you may be wondering if full-time RVing is simply a fad. Given that this has been a thing for some time, it is not a fad, and it is likely to grow dramatically in the upcoming years.
👉 In a study conducted last year, 40% of campers surveyed said that they are interested in becoming full-time RVers or campers after the pandemic.
👉 Even 10% of infrequent campers were even considering full-time RVing as a possible lifestyle.
This is a very interesting fact because it shows that even infrequent campers and RVers are thinking more about the van life lifestyle.
Plus, it also shows that the pandemic seems to have a large impact on how people are interpreting full-time RVing.
What do these stats tell us?
So, what do these statistics tell us about full-time RVing?
👉 To put it bluntly, RVing full-time is becoming a more and more popular lifestyle for people of all ages, ranging from 18 to 75.
Thanks to millennials, full-time RVing has gained a lot of traction in mainstream media. Even though millennials rule the roost in terms of #vanlife, senior citizens are still most likely to be full-time RVers.
The only reason why many people perceive millennials as more commonly living in an RV is that millennials control the media more.
Nevertheless, the millennials have made full-time RVing and RVing in general, more popular among the younger generation.
Especially coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, full-time RVing is becoming a more likable lifestyle among old and young, as well as frequent and infrequent campers.
Additionally, statistics tell us that opposite sex couples with pets are most likely to be full-time RVers. In contrast, it is less common for full-time RVers to travel solo, with a same-sex partner, or with children, but many do it anyways. Hopefully, more unique households will turn to full-time RVing in the future.
Read also: Where Can You Legally Live in an RV? (Incl. 10 Examples)
What is the average age of full-time RVers?
Just a few years ago, most RVers were over the age of 60. Today, the average age of full-time RVers has gone down dramatically.
👉 In fact, a shocking percentage of people who live an RV lifestyle is between the ages of 20 and early 40s.
Some even have young children. Most often, full-time RVers drive Class B motorhomes or vans that pull popups and carry tents.
👉 At the same time, there are many RVers who live in RV’s full-time at an RV park. According to the most recent census, 57% of RVers were over 65 years in age.
Of these senior RVers, almost half of them travel full-time, making the baby boomers the most common full-time RVers.
Here are the most common age groups that RV in order of most common to least:
- Baby Boomers
- Generation X
- Millennials
What state has the most RV owners?
👉 Today, Indiana is responsible for about 80% of the RVs manufactured. As a result, they sell the most RVs, followed by California and Texas.
Despite the fact that Indiana is overwhelmingly responsible for RV manufacturing, they do not have the most RV owners.
Instead, most RV owners call Florida their home state. The reason for this is that Florida has no state income tax.
This makes full-time RV living much more affordable in this state than in other states, especially California, which is another popular full-time RV destination.
What is the average age of an RV owner?
👉 Today, the average RV owner is a 35 to 55-year-old male. This demographic has remained constant throughout nearly the entire lifespan of RV travel popularity.
Interestingly, there has been a huge surge in solo female RVers as well, especially over the recent years.
Additionally, there’s been a huge surge in younger RV owners as well. In recent years, millennials have especially been pushing the industry towards van life and other full-time RVers.
👉 In fact, the hashtag #vanlife has over 6,000,000 uses on Instagram thanks to millennials and the younger generation.
Because of these changes in the demographic of the average RV owner, we can expect the average age to change over the next few years.
RV ownership statistics: How many RV owners are there in the US?
Since 2005, RV ownership has grown exponentially.
👉 Just 16 years ago, there were only 7.9 million households to own RVs. Today, over 9 million households claim at least one RV.
👉 This means that over 11% of households in the US are RV owners.
👉 This dramatic increase in RV ownership has led to the industry is worth over $114 billion.
👉 It even employs over 600,000 people, as well as contributes $6 billion in different types of taxes. It is only estimated that the RV industry should grow in the upcoming years.
Final Thoughts
All around, full-time RVing has been popular for a long time. COVID-19 and millennials have made it even more popular. Many people are opting for this way of life because it offers much more freedom and financial independence.
Although most people imagine full-time RVers as being young and perky, the vast majority are still those over the age of 60.
Despite this fact, millennials are encroaching on baby boomers as the RVing champs. Especially after the pandemic, many young adults are turning towards a full-time RVing lifestyle.
We are interested to see how these trends change over the next few years.
References
https://www.condorferries.co.uk
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