Heating assistance spans bill support, crisis aid and weatherization. The statistics below distinguish U.S. populations, measurement periods, forecasts, surveys and modeled program outcomes rather than treating these measures as interchangeable.
Key Heating Assistance Statistics
These highlights summarize the most useful measures across program reach, need, fuel costs and weatherization outcomes:
- In 2023, DOE’s Weatherization Assistance Program had provided services to 7.2 million U.S. households since 1976.
- In 2023, WAP weatherized an estimated average of 35,000 U.S. homes annually through DOE formula funds.
- In FY1989, about 6 million eligible U.S. households received heating and winter-crisis assistance, roughly one-third of eligible households.
- In FY1989, about 5.6 million U.S. households received heating assistance.
- In FY2020, WAP-eligible U.S. households had an estimated mean energy burden of 13.9% of income.
- In FY2020, U.S. households below 100% of the federal poverty line had an estimated mean energy burden of 30.9%.
- In 2017, 30.6 million U.S. households experienced a high energy burden above 6%.
- In 2017, 25.8 million U.S. households at or below 200% of the federal poverty level experienced a high energy burden.
- In winter 2023–24, about 4.79 million U.S. households used heating oil as their primary heating fuel.
- In winter 2023–24, EIA forecast average heating-oil expenditures of about $1,850 per U.S. primary heating-oil household.
- In the 2023 winter outlook, about 42% of U.S. households relied on electric heat pumps or electric resistance heaters as their primary space-heating source.
- In winter 2023–24, EIA forecast average heating-oil use of about 440 gallons per U.S. heating-oil household.
- WAP evaluation estimates expressed in 2022 dollars put average annual energy-cost savings at $372 per U.S. weatherized household.
- WAP evaluation estimates put annual heat savings after weatherization at 18% for U.S. weatherized households.
- For every dollar invested in WAP, DOE reported $1.72 in energy benefits and $2.78 in non-energy benefits in the cited U.S. program evaluation.
- In PY2008, WAP weatherized 97,965 U.S. housing units.
- In the first year after PY2008 weatherization, evaluated U.S. energy savings totaled 2.27 million MMBtu.
- In 2020, 27% of U.S. households had difficulty meeting energy needs according to the DOE-hosted WAP briefing book’s RECS measure.
Contents
- Key Heating Assistance Statistics
- Heating Assistance Program Scale and Household Reach
- Heating Assistance Data and Low-Income Energy Burden
- Heating Fuel, Regional and Household Trends
- Weatherization Assistance and Heating-Cost Savings
- Heating Assistance Outcomes for Energy, Health and the Economy
- Heating Fuel Costs and Winter Assistance Need
Heating Assistance Program Scale and Household Reach
Heating assistance includes different federal activities. LIHEAP can support heating or cooling bills, crises, weatherization and minor energy-related repairs, while WAP focuses on energy-efficiency improvements; their counts should not be added together.
DOE’s Weatherization Assistance Program Fact Sheet reports that WAP had provided services to 7.2 million U.S. households since 1976, as reported in 2023. This is a cumulative service measure, not a verified count of unique households across every program record.
The same fact sheet reports an estimated annual average of 35,000 homes weatherized through DOE formula funds in 2023. The average excludes some leveraged or other-program activity, and WAP formula grants reach all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories and Native American tribes.
WAP’s 2023 program estimate also associated its funds with about 8,500 direct and indirect jobs. That is a program-wide attribution rather than a count of jobs in individual weatherization projects.
Historical LIHEAP data show a different scale and definition. The GAO Low-Income Home Energy Assistance: A Program Overview estimated that in FY1989 about 6 million eligible U.S. households received heating and winter-crisis assistance, roughly one-third of eligible households; about 5.6 million received heating assistance specifically.
Among FY1989 households receiving heating assistance, about one-third included an elderly resident and 19% included a handicapped resident. These are historical subgroup estimates, and the terminology, eligibility rules and program reporting are period-specific.
In FY1989, LIHEAP benefits offset about 52% of recipient heating costs. The figure is a historical average offset for recipients, not the share of all household energy costs covered today.
Heating Assistance Data and Low-Income Energy Burden
Energy burden measures the share of income spent on home energy, not assistance receipt. The ORNL FY2020 WAP background data and statistics estimated mean burden for the WAP-eligible population at 13.9% of household income, compared with 3.0% for households above 200% of the poverty threshold.
For households below 100% of the federal poverty line, the estimated FY2020 mean energy burden was 30.9%. ORNL’s measure covers home-energy expenditures and is not heating-only.
The DOE-hosted How High Are Household Energy Burdens? report uses 2017 American Housing Survey data and reports medians, which are not directly comparable with ORNL means.
| 2017 population or threshold | Energy-burden result | Definition or scope |
|---|---|---|
| Low-income households | 8.1% median | Electricity and heating fuels |
| Non-low-income households | 2.3% median | Same AHS analysis |
| All U.S. households with high burden | 30.6 million | Above 6% burden |
| Households at or below 200% FPL with high burden | 25.8 million, or 67% | Above 6% burden |
| Low-income high-burden households with severe burden | 15.4 million, or 60% | Above 10%; nested within high burden |
The report found that low-income multifamily households had a 5.6% median burden, versus 2.4% for all multifamily households. It also reported median burdens of 4.2% for Black households and 3.5% for Hispanic households, compared with 2.9% for non-Hispanic White households.
Median renter energy burden was 3.4% in 2017, compared with 3.0% for homeowners. The AHS burden definition includes electricity and heating fuels but excludes transportation, water and telecommunications.
A modeled scenario in the same report estimated that a 25% reduction in energy use would reduce the average low-income household’s energy burden by 25%. This is not an observed assistance-program outcome and assumes a proportional relationship.
Heating Fuel, Regional and Household Trends
Fuel choice affects the type and timing of winter assistance need. EIA’s Winter Fuels Outlook forecast and Use of heating oil data describe fuel use and costs, not assistance participation.
| Measure | Period | U.S. result |
|---|---|---|
| Primary heating-oil households | Winter 2023–24 | 4.79 million estimated |
| Share of heating-oil households in Northeast | Winter 2023–24 | 82% estimated |
| Heating oil as primary space-heating fuel | Winter 2023–24 outlook | 4% forecast |
| Average heating-oil use | Winter 2023–24 forecast | 440 gallons per household |
| Average heating-oil price | Winter 2023–24 forecast | $4.20 per gallon |
| Average heating-oil expenditure | Winter 2023–24 forecast | $1,850 per household |
The heating-oil expenditure forecast was $130 higher than the prior winter’s estimate. EIA also reported that residential heating-oil consumption had declined nearly every year since its 1970s peak, a long-run trend without a single percentage decline supplied here.
Electric heating represented a broader household group: about 42% of U.S. households relied on electric heat pumps or electric resistance heaters as their primary space-heating source in the 2023 winter outlook. EIA forecast average winter electricity bills of about $1,060 for these households, including the household electricity bill rather than heating-only costs.
EIA forecast average U.S. residential electricity prices of 15.2 cents per kilowatthour for winter 2023–24, about 2% below the prior winter. Regional consumption forecasts differed: winter residential electricity consumption was expected to be 10% lower in the West and 5% higher in the South than in the prior winter.
Weatherization Assistance and Heating-Cost Savings
Weatherization changes energy use and housing conditions; it is not the same intervention as a bill payment. DOE’s WAP Fact Sheet reports evaluation estimates of $372 in average annual energy-cost savings per weatherized household, expressed in 2022 dollars.
The same evaluation estimated 18% annual heat savings and 7% annual electricity savings for WAP households. For every $1 invested, DOE reported $1.72 in energy benefits and $2.78 in non-energy benefits; these are benefit-cost estimates, not cash payments.
Two non-energy estimates were $538 per household per year from fewer missed work days and $514 per year in household out-of-pocket medical-expense savings. Both are monetized evaluation benefits rather than direct wage or medical transfers.
The Weatherization Works retrospective evaluation recorded 97,965 units weatherized in PY2008. Their composition was 59% site-built single-family, 18% mobile homes, 5% small multifamily and 18% large multifamily.
The average PY2008 cost was $4,695 per unit, with DOE paying 48% of that average. PY2008 WAP and leveraged expenditures were estimated to support 8,500 jobs and increase national economic output by $1.2 billion.
Heating Assistance Outcomes for Energy, Health and the Economy
The PY2008 evaluation estimated first-year energy savings of 2.27 million MMBtu. Site-built homes averaged 29.3 MMBtu of first-year energy savings, while the report cautioned that the overall estimate was conservative because of incomplete large-multifamily coverage.
The evaluation estimated $420 million in program energy-cost savings net present value in 2013 dollars, or $4,890 per weatherized unit in 2013 dollars. These are modeled present values, not immediate bill reductions.
Households received an estimated 78% of PY2008 WAP energy savings, while utility ratepayers received 22%. The evaluation also estimated a first-year reduction of 2.246 million metric tons of carbon emissions and 5,271 short tons of criteria pollutants.
The Weatherization Works II ARRA-period evaluation estimated $3.83 billion in present-value household and health-related non-energy benefits. For single-family or mobile-home households, it estimated $14,148 in present-value non-energy benefits per household, based on a limited modeled benefit set.
Puerto Rico homes in that evaluation saved an average of 876 kWh of electricity per year, about 15%. This is a study-specific result for a new Puerto Rico program, not a national WAP average.
The DOE WAP Briefing Book reports that 27% of U.S. households had difficulty meeting energy needs in 2020, compared with 31% experiencing some energy insecurity in 2015. The four-percentage-point decline is a cross-year RECS comparison, and energy insecurity is broader than heating-assistance receipt.
Heating Fuel Costs and Winter Assistance Need
Historical cost shares show why heating assistance cannot be interpreted from fuel prices alone. The GAO program overview estimated that in FY1989 LIHEAP households used about 14% of income for total home-energy costs, compared with about 3% for all households.
| FY1989 comparison | LIHEAP households | All households or range |
|---|---|---|
| Total home-energy costs as share of income | 14% | 3% |
| Home heating as share of total home-energy costs | 39% | 34% |
| Home heating as share of income | 5% | 1% |
| Heating-cost range by Census region for LIHEAP households | 2% West to over 7% North Central | Historical range |
| Heating cost by fuel for LIHEAP households | 4% electric to almost 7% fuel oil | Historical range |
These FY1989 figures are historical comparisons, not current eligibility thresholds or current regional assistance rates. They also show why population, period, fuel and definition must remain explicit when comparing heating assistance statistics.