How many people are there living in motorhomes in the USA?

In USA are millions. What about UK?

We had an email from a reader asking about a couple of weeks ago, as it related to him.

How many people are living in motorhomes in the UK?

We seem to think that motorhomes are quite common here but I must have missed something in the news about people living in motorhomes.

The number I remember is that around 2 million people live in privately owned cars, ie that's just the number of people owning the cars, not counting the number of people travelling in them to work on or between family households? A surprisingly large number. How does the motorhomeing family picture look in the USA? Please keep in mind, this is a work of art. Think of it as a fine art oil painting with lots of contrast and rich color.

There are several different types of motorhomes. You have RVs such as the Winnebago Elkhart, and the Escape, and trailers such as the MH1 “Motor Home”, the MC and many more. This is the “family motorhome” you will be driving. You can have 4 or 5 people in a family unit. Most the motorhomes that you see on the roads here are flat deckers or so called trailer homes. They are a cheap alternative to a permanent house. A family that will fit in a flat decker home together will fit in a motorhome together. A family living in a motorhome typically fits 1 adult and 4-5 children. Some people in the USA and Europe travel with more than that (such as 10 people) and other people with less (1 adult and 2-3 children). 

If your motorhome is limited by how much room you have in your motorhome, then the flat decker camper is perfect for you. There are also recreational travel trailers that are excellent for use on the road. A park model RV is another kind of RV which is either mobile or permanently in a site. If your RV is able to be towed, it is probably an older Class B or Class A motorhome and if it is too old, you are looking at a fairly substantial loss. Some people actually buy cars which they then use as a motorhome on a temporary basis. So it is really not a matter of the motorhome being bigger than a motorhome, it is a matter of what sort of RV you want and how much you want to spend. 

The coachbuilders would say that motorhomes, when they were not made for driving in, were simply called motor cars. Look at motor homes in Europe, motor cars on the other hand were made for driving. If you bought a car that was made for driving, then yes it would be bigger and heavier than an RV, but then it would be just like driving a car. Most people today see the car as a more effective and efficient way to travel than any motorhome or trailer. Don't believe me? Take a look at the distances people walk or travel in today compared to the days of the early pioneers. 

You do the maths. So back to the motorhomes, RVs and RV trailer homes in the USA. If you wanted to motor home the USA and UK combined and you were limited by the amount of space you have in your motorhome or trailer, then you would only be able to fit one adult and 4-5 children in an RV. However if you have a flat decker or a trailer home then you can fit 4-5 people and if you were travelling more, then you could fit more. If you live in a UK motorhome, you are most likely to be from the UK. 

If you live in a USA motorhome you are most likely to be from the USA. Motor homes or trailers can range in price from around $10,000 to over $100,000 so this is very much a question of what you want to spend. Motor homes are always expensive, many people buy and restore cars which they then sell as a motorhome. With a car, you can take it in and out of garages and doors easily. 

With a motorhome or trailer home, you need a special ramp or hoist. Also with a trailer you have to put the rug down so it can be towed. If you are driving from the USA to the UK, you can take a car with you and then drive the car on a trailer on the return journey.