- Close to half (44%) of U.S. residents said they would choose a smaller home with more sunlight over a larger one with less, nearly double the share (24%) who said the opposite. This preference for sunlight is especially strong among Baby Boomers (54%) and those who live in the Northeast (57%).
- Approximately 1 in 10 (11%) U.S. residents identified sunlight as “non-negotiable, one of the most important features ” when considering a new home, and another 46% said it’s “very important.” Just 3% said sunlight is “not at all important.”
- Natural light also impacts how people feel at home: 2 in 3 (67%) U.S. residents said sunlight has an impact on how satisfied they are with their living situation, including 29% who said it impacts them “a lot.”
Nearly half (44%) of U.S. residents would prefer a smaller home with more sunlight over a larger home with less sunlight. Roughly half as many (24%) would prefer the opposite: A larger, dimmer home over a smaller, brighter home.
This is according to a Redfin survey of 1,005 U.S. residents conducted by Ipsos in March 2026. Please see the end of this report for more on methodology.
Baby Boomers Care Most About Sunlight Over Square Footage
All age groups prefer smaller homes with more sunlight to larger homes with less sunlight . The preference is strongest among older Americans: More than half (54%) of baby boomers prefer sunlight over space, by far the biggest share of any generation.
People in all parts of the country prefer smaller, brighter homes, too. Nearly three in five (57%) of those living in the Northeast would choose sunlight over home size , making that the region with the strongest preference, followed by the Midwest (48%). Five of the top 10 cloudiest U.S. states—Vermont, New York, Ohio, Michigan and Connecticut—are located in these regions, according to Farmers’ Almanac.
The preference for size over sunlight is stronger among young people; 35% of both Gen Zers and millennials would choose a larger home with less sunlight, compared with 21% of Gen Xers and just 8% of baby boomers. Redfin agents attribute this result, in large part, to life stage.
“I’m hearing more often than ever from my younger clients things like, ‘We want extra space because we might have kids soon or because my mother-in-law is getting older and may need to move in at some point.’ For this group, that flexibility may be worth compromising a window or two,”said Florida-based agent Tim Harper. “Young buyers today are not just thinking about their immediate family needs when considering the size of a home—they’re also very forward-looking when it comes to a property’s potential for multigenerational living.”
Most U.S. Residents Say Sunlight Is Important in Choosing Their Next Home
In a separate survey question, roughly 1 in 10 (11%) U.S. residents said they would consider sunlight “non-negotiable, one of the most important features in a home” if they were choosing a new home today. Another 77% identified how much sunlight a home gets as either “very important” or “somewhat important”, but ultimately something they might be willing to compromise on. Just 3% of U.S. residents said sunlight is “not at all important” in a home.
These results were largely uniform across key demographics, though Northeast residents were more likely than people living in other parts of the country to say sunlight is a “non-negotiable” or “very important” (66%). An equal share of those who indicated they were likely to make a major purchase, such as a home or a car, in the next 12 months said the same (66%), making these two groups the most invested in sunlight as a home feature overall.
Among those who said natural light was in any way important to their assessment of a potential new home, over half (53%) cited the sun’s ability to improve their mood and mental well- as their main reason for holding this view—the top reason cited among six options we asked about. The next most-cited reasons were reduced energy costs (16%) and liking the look and aesthetics of sunny spaces (14%).
“I have buyers who walk into a home that checks every box online and walk right out after making it past the entryway because of low light,” said Cassia Bourne, a Redfin principal agent in Denver. “I use those moments to tell my sellers that light sells a home—it makes it feel larger, cleaner, and more inviting.”
Most U.S. Residents Say Sunlight Impacts How Satisfied They Feel With Their Home
Natural light is an important consideration for future homeownership, and it also impacts how people feel in their current homes: Two-thirds (69%) of U.S. residents said the amount of sunlight in their home impacts how satisfied they are with their living situation, including 31% who said it impacts their satisfaction “a lot.”
Additionally, respondents who said they live in sun-filled homes were 30 percentage points more likely to report being “very” or “somewhat” satisfied with their current living situation (77%) than those who said they don’t live in sun-filled homes (47%).
And while approximately 1 in 5 (22%) U.S. residents said they live in a “very sunny” home, most U.S. residents (57%) describe their homes as receiving only a “moderate amount” of sunlight, being only “somewhat sunny”—suggesting there’s still lots more light to be let in around the country.
Natural light is one of the hardest things to judge from listing photos or even a quick showing, which is why Redfin co-created Sunscore with Shadowmap, a sunlight analysis platform. It’s now available exclusively on Redfin.com; learn more here.
Methodology
The survey results in this report are from a Redfin survey conducted by Ipsos in March 2026, fielded to 1,005 U.S. residents, including 418 who said they are likely to make a major purchase, such as a home or a car, in the next 12 months. The topline results for this survey have a credibility interval of 3.8 percentage points.
This report is focused mainly on three questions that were asked to all respondents:
- “If you were to move to a new home, which of the following options would you prefer?” Respondents could select “A larger home with less sunlight coming in,” “A smaller home with more sunlight coming in,” or “No preference/ no sure.”
- “If you were choosing a home today, how important would the amount of sunlight in your home be relative to other features of the home?” Respondents could select “Non-negotiable, one of the most important features,” “Very important but willing to compromise,” “Somewhat important but willing to compromise,” “Not very important,” or “Not at all important.”
- “How much, if at all, does the amount of sunlight in your home affect your satisfaction with your living situation? Respondents could select “A lot,” “A little,” “No impact” or “Not sure.”
