Average Dining Room Size: 14 × 16 Feet, and the Table It Fits

What is the average dining room size?

Home Stratosphere puts the average dining room in the US at 14 × 16 feet, and Designing Idea calls the same 14 × 16 (224 sq ft) the common size. Designing Idea calls 11 × 14 (154 sq ft) the standard dining room size, enough for six people to sit and move around. Houzz lands in the same place from another direction: a dining room with a fireplace and similar furniture needs at least 14 × 16 feet, and 15 × 20 will likely work better.

For smaller and larger rooms, the guides go by the number of people at the table. Both put about 11 × 11 at four and 11 × 14 at six. For eight or more, Home Stratosphere says at least 11 × 16, while Designing Idea gives 12 × 16 or 14 × 18 for eight, at least 15 × 16 for ten and at least 16 × 17 for twelve.

The largest table each dining room size fits

Square feet don't set the seats; the clearance behind the chairs does. We ran every size the guides give through our Dining Table Size calculator at the NKBA's two clearances: 36 in from the table edge to the wall, so people can edge past seated diners, and 44 in, so they can walk behind the chairs.

Longest table at least 36 in wide that keeps the clearance on every side, and the seats the Dining Table Size calculator gives for that length (24 in of table edge per person; its count tops out at 12). In the 11 × 11 at 44 in, no rectangle from 48 in up fits, so the cell shows the largest round in its list. Room sizes in feet, from Home Stratosphere, Designing Idea and Houzz.

At 36 in, the guides' counts are low. The 11 × 11 they give for four takes a 36 × 60 in table for six. The 11 × 14 they give for six takes a 96 in table, which the calculator rates for ten. Designing Idea's 12 × 16 and 14 × 18 for eight and its 15 × 16 for ten all take a table for twelve. Only its 16 × 17 for twelve matches.

At 44 in, the counts come closer. The 11 × 11 takes a 42 in round for four, the same four both guides give. The 11 × 14 takes an 80 in table for eight. Designing Idea's 15 × 16 for ten takes a 104 in table for ten, a match. Its 16 × 17 for twelve falls 4 in short: a 120 in table with 44 in at each end needs 120 + 44 + 44 = 208 in, or 17 ft 4 in.

Width is never the limit at these sizes. A 36 in-wide table needs 36 + 36 + 36 = 108 in (9 ft) of width at 36 in, and 36 + 44 + 44 = 124 in (10 ft 4 in) at 44 in. Every guide size is at least 11 ft wide, so the length sets the seats. The guides also leave room for other furniture: Home Stratosphere's 11 × 14 includes a small buffet and its 14 × 18 a hutch, and Designing Idea's 16 × 17 has buffets and plants.

Dining room size for 6, 8, 10 or 12 people

Start from the table instead: these are the smallest dining room dimensions for each table. Each one is the table plus the clearance on both sides, both ways: for a 36 × 96 in table at 44 in, 36 + 44 + 44 = 124 in by 96 + 44 + 44 = 184 in, or 10 ft 4 in × 15 ft 4 in. The calculator passes each table at exactly that size and fails it 1 in smaller either way.

Smallest dining area, width × length, for each table in the Dining Table Size calculator. Seats are the calculator's: West Elm's sizes for six to ten, and twelve from 120 in long, five a side at 24 in each plus one at each end. Designing Idea's rooms in feet, for the number seated.

Each of Designing Idea's rooms is wider than the 10 ft 4 in a 36 in-wide table needs at 44 in. Its 15 × 16 for ten has 4 ft 8 in to spare, room for a sideboard or a walkway along one side. The rows for six and eight match the table in our guide to how much space around a dining table.

Leave room for a sideboard

Houzz gives a worked example: a 36 × 72 in table works in a room as small as 11 × 12 feet, allowing 2 feet for the sideboard. We checked it. With the sideboard along a 12 ft wall, 9 × 12 feet is left, and the calculator fits a 36 × 72 in table with exactly 36 in on every side (Layout C below). Put the sideboard on an 11 ft wall instead and 10 × 11 is left: the 72 in table no longer fits, but a 36 × 60 in table for six does.

Houzz's 2-ft allowance for the sideboard taken off one wall, then the longest table at least 36 in wide and its seats, from the Dining Table Size calculator. None: a 36 in table plus 44 in on each side needs 124 in (10 ft 4 in) of width.

In the 11 × 14, a sideboard on a long wall still leaves room for a 96 in table at 36 in, but for nothing 36 in wide at 44 in. In the average 14 × 16 it costs no seats: with the sideboard on a 16 ft wall, a 104 in table for ten still fits with 44 in to walk past, as it does without one. Measure the clearance from the front of the sideboard, not the wall: the NKBA measures from the table edge to any wall or other obstruction behind the seats. Houzz allows 2 feet in its example; the cabinets themselves can be as shallow as 10 in, it says, with 12 to 16 in working better.

3 dining rooms, drawn by the Dining Table Size calculator

The average 14 × 16, the small 11 × 11, and Houzz's 11 × 12 with a sideboard. Each plan is the calculator's own drawing; the hatched band is the clearance that has to stay clear of walls and furniture.

The numbers we checked

These are the numbers behind every table and plan on this page.

The room sizes come from Home Stratosphere, Designing Idea and Houzz. The clearances come from the NKBA, the seat counts from West Elm, Bassett and Wayfair, and the 24 in per person from IKEA and Pottery Barn, as on the Dining Table Size calculator page.

Dining in the living room? See a dining table in a small living room and how to divide a living-dining combo. To check every gap in the room, try the Clearance Checker. And for the room next door: the average living room size, and what fits in it.