The average length appears to be tied to the value of the house. I have been appraising real estate for decades and found in this area lower priced houses are typically in the 20-22 foot deep range, as the price increases the length seems to increase to 24 to 26 feet and then when you get to the upper end they may go 28-30 feet deep. Sure there are exceptions due to how the garage fit with the house design or if a car person was involved. The width seems to follow this pattern also. I have seen many lower end houses with garages that were less then 400 SF but technically they were 2 car garages. More of a marketing ploy.
^^This,
Plus whether it was a spec built house or custom. Historically, garages followed the current trends in vehicle size. But Seem to be about a decade or two behind in timing.
It's looking like the average trend now is about a 22x24 two car which will fit your wife's new Prius and your teenagers Civic. But your truck is still in the driveway. But if you got the money, they will add a 8x20 third bay on to the side. At least that's the builders trend in my neck of the woods now. It looks bigger and that extra door screams "I got money". But I'll take my 1980 built "2 car" 840sq ft 30Dx28W any day over the **** they build today.
Houses built in the 40's and 50's and even 60's were single car 10x26ish. Which accommodated a 1939 Chevy coupe just fine, whats the problem? And unless you were wealthy, households only had one car. The wife stayed in the kitchen! LOL!
Big *** cars started being built in the late 40's and 50's
20 years later garages got bigger, In the late 60's through the 80's they started making them wider to accommodate two vehicles, though not much deeper than 26'. (To me a 16' door on a 20' wide garage when you have to let your passenger out before you pull into your garage is NOT a two car garage.) . But now you could fit the wife's new 1976 Cadillac DeVille next to your '69RS that you are building into a race car. The truck has ALWAYS parked outside.
The fuel crisis in the 80's hit and all the cars shrunk to about half the size. It's 1986 and your wife is tired of driving that 10 year old Caddy and she wants a new one. Wait, What? Where did the rest of the car go?LOL
In comes the small garages again. Unfortunately, they haven't recovered yet, even though some vehicles are starting to get a little larger and the guys are wanting to park their TRUCKS in the garage now.
All that just to say, is a generational thing. But it is also a economical and cultural thing. Builders have found ways to cut cost, and see the fact that statistically, Americans use their garages for storage and not to park cars in. So they can get away with keeping them smallish. Only in America will you find $500 worth of junk in a "car garage" and $50k worth of "cars" in the driveway.
[soap box]stepping off[/soap box]
