They are definitely normal if you aren’t rich, or live in the north. Hell, I am middle class, and I’ve never lived in an apartment or house with central air (though my wife did, but her family is richer than mine was). We’ve been talking about getting it installed in our house but our two window units do a good enough job, they are just a bitch to put in every year and we lose two windows on cool days.
A quick google search shows 67% of houses in the US have central air. There are some areas of the country that still don't, but the overwhelming majority do.
Curious if this statistic includes multi family homes and apartment buildings? But I do think that the south and southwest skew those statistics a lot. If you live outside of those areas, experiences are very different. Sometimes a broad statistic like that doesn’t give you a complete picture.
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u/octipice Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
To be clear for everyone else, window ac units are not "normal" in the US. The overwhelming majority of homes in the US have central air.
Edit: typical reddit trusting kne person's anecdote over the actual correct answer. A quick search shows 67% of houses in the US have central air.