The bigger your house is, the more miserable you are: study

Forget the walk-in closets, extra wings and underutilized “bonus rooms.”

A growing body of research suggests that when it comes to house size, bigger may not be better — it might just be making Americans downright miserable.

A recent study published in Science Direct reveals that as US homes have nearly doubled in size since the 1970s, average life satisfaction has not only failed to improve — in many cases, it has actually declined. 

Today, the average American residence boasts more than 940 square feet per person, up from just 550 in 1973. But all that space has come at a cost: higher mortgages, longer commutes and more time spent cleaning rooms no one actually uses.

“If you move to a larger house, and you sacrifice [interactions], then you have a problem,” economist Mariano Rojas, one of the researchers behind the study, told the Washington Post.

His team found that the physical sprawl of modern homes often leads to emotional distance between family members, as well as increased stress tied to the financial burden of upkeep.

“You will never have enough,” Rojas added. “When you live in a castle, you will say, well, it’s not Windsor Castle.”

The report found that the initial thrill of upgrading to a larger home fades within weeks or months — and often gives way to anxiety and dissatisfaction.

Empty formal dining rooms, unused guest wings, and sprawling basements tend to accumulate clutter, not memories. The bigger the space, the more objects people acquire to fill it — which in turn leads to more cleaning, maintenance and decisions to be made. The result means more stress, less connection and often less happiness.

But some families are learning that scaling down can bring unexpected freedom.

Take the Millers, for example.

Lisa Miller and her husband, along with their three teenage children, once lived in a 3,000-square-foot home on an acre and a half in Knoxville, Tennessee. Their backyard backed up to protected land. It was quiet, private — and vast.

“We had a ton of space. We lived on a back road and there is lots of square footage outside,” Miller told The Post.

But when they relocated to New York City, they traded the expanse of the South for a tighter, more intentional lifestyle in Brooklyn. 

The family now lives in a 1,700-square-foot Park Slope apartment — up from the 1,200-square-foot rental they initially took after leaving Tennessee — but still a fraction of the size they once had.

“By New York standards, that’s a big apartment, but for five people with three teenagers, it’s still a small space,” Miller noted.

And yet, the family couldn’t be happier.

“We’re a super tight-knit family,” she said. “We spend a lot of time together and we all have bedrooms. But our living space is our communal space and we spend a lot of time in there.”

The layout of their new apartment — with the kitchen and living room combined into one open space — has allowed the family to stay connected, even during the mundane routines of daily life.

“I cook a lot,” said Miller. “As a mom of three, I’m in the kitchen a lot, so we still get to be together. When I’m in the kitchen, we’re still spending time together, hanging out, watching a show, watching a movie … we still get to spend all of our time together.”

The shift in square footage also brought a shift in mindset.

“When you live in a really large space, you tend to accumulate a lot of things you don’t need. You’re always finding places to stash things,” Miller said. “I think living in a smaller space was just so much more intentional about what you have and what you need and what’s important.”

The family has embraced the downsized lifestyle so completely that they don’t miss the house they left behind. 

“We have acclimated really beautifully to this life. And we wouldn’t go back and we wouldn’t change it for 3,000 square feet and an acre and a half,” she said.

In fact, living with less has brought more peace — and fewer bills.

Though their rent is high, they no longer have to budget for property taxes, home insurance or car maintenance. 

“We don’t have a car, we don’t have car payments, we don’t have a mortgage payment … if we have a maintenance issue, we have people that fix that — that’s included in our rent,” Miller said. “Our electricity bill alone, when you’re not heating and cooling and lighting a massive space, we definitely feel like … it’s more of an even tradeoff than people realize.”

The simplicity has been especially beneficial for their children, Miller said. 

“I would say when you live in a smaller space, you definitely spend more time together just by default. But we all like it and we enjoy it,” she said. “And I feel like my kids are older and kind of independent, so they do a lot of things on their own. But like we come back together and we’re super happy having a small space. Learning to live with less, having less things, less clutter and focusing more on just living our lives.” 

And in a city like New York, where culture, community and activity spill out onto the sidewalk, the Millers don’t feel deprived.

“New York is your backyard,” Miller said. “Living in a city like this, I don’t feel like you miss the square footage. I don’t feel like it harms our family in any way.”