Product Profile: D.R. Horton
INDUSTRY
housing
Category
single-family home development
product Profiled
housing built and communities developed by D.R. Horton
H-Score
47
ranked 13th of 13 within the housing industry
ranked 43rd of 76 overall
product description
D.R. Horton is a home construction company and has been the largest homebuilder by volume in the United States since 2002.(1) It operates in 106 markets across 33 states.(2) Customers can choose from a variety of homes and neighborhoods that include options for entry-level buyers, luxury real estate, active-adult communities, and multigenerational households.
D.R. Horton offers homes that range in size from 1,000 to more than 4,000 square feet and in price from $200,000 to more than $1,000,000. For the year ended September 30, 2022, they sold more than 80,000 homes with an average closing price of $385,100.(3) The company also offers smart-homes with connected devices, and floor plans oriented towards multigenerational households.
who’s affected
D.R. Horton serves home buyers across the U.S. Its average sales price of $380,000 is considerably less than the median new US home sales price of $436,000.(4) Using data from their mortgage arm, D.R. Horton states that about 15% of their buyers have annual household incomes of less than $60,000 and another 35% have incomes ranging from $60,000 to $90,000.(5)
influence on health-related behaviors
EATING
slight negative influence
Proximity to grocery stores with healthy food options can positively influence eating habits. One metric of a neighborhood’s food environment is whether it is characterized by the USDA as “low access to food stores.”(6) In a sample of D.R. Horton locations reviewed by Building H, 48% were in low-access neighborhoods.
- Review the food environment – both access to fresh foods and prevalence of unhealthy food outlets – as part of the decision to build in a certain neighborhood. Use the potential of aggregated demand that a new development would create to encourage investment in local fresh food outlets like grocery stores.
- Include raised beds for vegetable gardens as part of home landscaping design – or establish community gardens within the developments.
PHYSICAL ACTVITY
neutral to slight negative influence
The walkability of a geographic location has an influence on the physical activity of its residents. In a sample of D.R. Horton locations reviewed by Building H, only 4% were in neighborhoods rated as “very walkable” or better by Walk Score.(7) Ninety (90) percent of locations were in neighborhoods rated “car-dependent” by Walk Score and 36% scored 0 out of 100 on Walk Score’s scale. Mean Walk Score was 12.7; the median was 2.5. A higher Walk Score rating for a given neighborhood has been associated with increased physical activity among neighborhood residents.(8)
D.R. Horton provides a number of amenities that facilitate physical activity in their communities. They offer fitness centers at 15% of a sample of housing communities reviewed by Building H, swimming pools at 35%, playgrounds at 45%, sports courts at 10% and walking trails at 33% of their communities.
- Review the walkability, bikeability and access to transit of a neighborhood as part of the decision to build in a certain neighborhood. Use the potential of aggregated demand that a new development would create to advocate for and encourage investment in sidewalks and bike lanes, if not available.
- Publish data on the walkability, bikeability, and access to transit of new developments.
- Provide bike sharing and scooter sharing services at properties.
- Provide amenities such as fitness centers, playgrounds, swimming pools, parks and walking paths at more of its developments.
- Build sidewalks and ensure adequate, safe space for bicycle traffic within developments.
Sleeping
neutral to slight positive influence
D.R. Horton uses low-emitting products in the construction of their homes and addresses indoor air quality through ventilation systems that reduce pollutants indoors.(9) These efforts could have a positive influence on sleep as lower indoor air quality has been associated with poorer sleep.(10)
Tools from their smart home offering(11) related to air conditioning control, lighting, and safety hold the potential to create healthier sleeping environments, though it’s not clear that D.R. Horton has applied these capabilities toward that opportunity.
To the extent that D.R. Horton’s locations and property designs influence physical activity and time spent outdoors, they could indirectly influence sleep as both of those behaviors are positively correlated with better sleep.
- Promote healthy circadian rhythms by:
- designing for exposure to natural light through larger windows, skylights and solar tubes where possible
- installing circadian LED lighting systems that adjust color temperature to mimic natural light throughout the day
- Build in air quality monitors, as poor indoor air quality has been shown to influence sleep.
- Build in smart thermostats in order to optimize nighttime temperatures for better sleep.
- Use soundproofing and other acoustic design techniques, such as sound-absorbing materials, to reduce noise that could interfere with sleep.
Engaging Socially
neutral to slight positive influence
In the sample of D.R. Horton homes reviewed by Building H, approximately 26% featured front porches. Neighborhoods with high prevalences of design characteristics such as front porches have been associated with more frequent talk among neighbors.(12)
D.R. Horton offers amenities at many of its communities that can facilitate social interactions among its residents. These include clubhouses or other social gathering areas (in 10% of a sample of communities reviewed by Building H), outdoor grills (10%), playgrounds (45%), swimming pools (35%), sports courts (10%) and dog parks (8%).
- Design new homes with front porches or other street-facing outdoor spaces that facilitate casual social interactions among neighbors.
- Design new homes with open floor plans and gathering/entertaining interior and exterior spaces that facilitate socialization.
- Offer indoor and outdoor common spaces – such as lounges, clubhouses, playgrounds, parks, swimming pools, sports fields/courts and outdoor cooking facilities – that facilitate both planned community events and casual social interactions among neighbors at more of its developments.
- Engage with residents to understand social interests and develop social programming to foster social interaction and bonding over common interests.
- Experiment with buddy programs, where longtime residents welcome new residents and help them get situated.
- Developing in more walkable, bikeable neighborhoods would also facilitate social connection.
Getting Outdoors
neutral to slight negative influence
Neighborhood walkability is a key driver of spending time outdoors. The walkability of D.R. Horton’s locations (discussed above in physical activity) has an influence on how much time its residents spend outdoors.
Access to public parks can also encourage people to go outdoors. In the sample of D.R. Horton homes reviewed by Building H, only 12% were within a 10-minute walk from a public park.(13)
The natural environment around one’s home can influence how much time people spend outdoors. In the sample of D.R. Horton locations reviewed by Building H, 88% were rated “Nature Rich” or “Nature Utopia” by NatureQuant, an organization that characterizes the natural environment around any location.(14) Only 6% of D.R. Horton’s locations were rated “Nature Light” or “Nature Deficient.” Mean NatureScore was 80.4; the median score 85.8. A higher NatureScore for a given neighborhood has not been directly correlated with more time spent outdoors by its residents, but it has been correlated with many improvements in health outcomes that are consistent with more time spent in nature.(15)
D.R. Horton notes that it incorporates features such as communal parks and accessible walking trails and that it plants trees and other forms of vegetation for the specific purpose of encouraging its residents to go outdoors.(16)
D.R. Horton offers a number of amenities that can facilitate outdoor activities. These include playgrounds (in 45% of a sample of communities reviewed by Building H), outdoor grills (10%), sports courts (10%), walking trails (33%) and dog parks (8%).
- Pursue opportunities noted above related to neighborhood walkability, bikeability and access to transit.
- Pursue opportunities noted above related to outdoor amenities such as playgrounds, community gardens and walking paths.
Notes
Our Story. D.R. Horton website, accessed November 20, 2023.
D.R. Horton, Inc. 2022 Annual Report (Form 10-K), p. 1.
Ibid.
US Census Bureau. Monthly New Residential Sales, July 2023.
D.R. Horton, Inc. 2022 ESG Report, p. 18.
The “low-access to food” designation means that a significant portion of residents of the Census tract are more than one mile (if urban) or more than 10 miles (if rural) from the nearest supermarket or large grocery store. See U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. Food Access Research Atlas: Measuring Access to Food.
Walk Score is a methodology for assessing the walkability of a location, using a proprietary algorithm that factors in walking proximity to amenities and pedestrian friendliness. Walk Score is based on a scale of 0-100. Locations scoring 49 or under are considered “car-dependent;” Locations scoring 70 or more are rated “very walkable.” Those scoring 90 and above are labeled “walker’s paradise.” See https://www.walkscore.com/methodology.shtml for more on the Walk Score methodology.
Erica Twardzik et al. Walk Score and objectively measured physical activity within a national cohort. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Volume 73, Issue 6 (June 2019), pp. 549-556.
D.R. Horton, Inc. 2022 ESG Report, p. 53.
Jianhong Liu et al. Air pollution exposure and adverse sleep health across the life course: A systematic review. Environmental Pollution. Volume 262 (July 2020).
Welcome to America’s Smart Home, D.R. Horton website, accessed November 20, 2023
Carrie LeVan. Neighborhoods That Matter: How Place and People Affect Political Participation. American Politics Research. Volume 48, Issue 2 (2020), pp. 286–294.
Based on a geographical analysis using ParkServe, a tool provided by the Trust for Public Land.
NatureScore is a methodology for measuring the amount and quality of natural elements of any location developed by NatureQuant. NatureScores are on a 0-100 scale and are translated to descriptive assessments using the following code: 0-19.9: “Nature Deficient”; 20-39.9: “Nature Light”; 40-59.9: “Nature Adequate”; 60-79.9: “Nature Rich”; 80-100: “Nature Utopia.” See Delivering Technology to Assess and Promote Nature Exposure. NatureQuant White Paper. 2020.
NatureQuant (2020).
D.R. Horton, Inc. 2022 ESG Report. p. 58.