The REAL reason why America has so few elevators

America’s elevator shortage is making housing more expensive, buildings less accessible, and cities less dynamic—all because of bad regulations and union protectionism.

reason.com

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As revolutionary inventions go, the elevator doesn't seem to get its due.

Elevators aren't as iconic as the automobile or as ostentatious as the airplane. They are simple, generally unfussy devices seemingly meant to be ignored. If you live in an apartment building or work in an office, you might take an elevator several times each day without a second thought.

But add up all those trips, and you start to get a sense of how important the elevator is. An estimated 1 billion people set foot in an elevator every single day. In the U.S., elevators travel more than 2.5 billion miles each year—more than all the miles traveled by train and airplane, combined. That's enough to go back and forth to the Sun more than 27 times.

Elevators are essential technology. They have changed where people live and how we work. They make it easier for anyone with a wheelchair or a stroller to get around. Without elevators, skyscrapers would be worthless, and penthouse apartments would not be desirable. The modern city would be very different without the elevator.

So, why don't we build as many of them anymore?

Yes, America still has a ton of elevators. More than 1 million of them, in fact. Compared to other countries, however, we are falling behind.

The U.S. has about 3.1 elevators per thousand people. On a per capita basis, France and Germany have about three times as many. New York City has roughly the same number of people as Switzerland—a place with far fewer tall buildings—but there are actually twice as many passenger elevators in Switzerland as in NYC.

The American elevator shortage is, in many ways, a policy problem.

Installing a brand new, four-stop elevator in New York City costs about $158,000, according to a 2024 report published by the Center for Building in North America, a housing policy think tank. That same elevator costs about $36,000 to install in Switzerland.

If something costs more, you'll get less of it. The high cost of installing elevators is the major reason why there are fewer of them being built in America.

"The problem with elevators is a microcosm of the challenges of the broader construction industry—from labor to building codes to a sheer lack of political will," wrote Stephen Jacob Smith, the center's executive director, in a 2024 essay for The New York Times. "These challenges are at the root of a mounting housing crisis that has spread to nearly every part of the country and is damaging our economic productivity and our environment."

In his research, Smith points to two major factors that inflate the cost of elevator construction in America.

The first is well-intentioned regulations that have backfired.

American elevators are required to be considerably bigger than those installed in new construction in Europe and elsewhere around the world. Rather than merely accommodating a wheelchair or a stretcher, as is common elsewhere, American regulations require additional room alongside. In some jurisdictions, elevators must be big enough to allow for turning a stretcher sideways, which is rarely going to be necessary.

Bigger elevators take up more space in buildings, of course. They are also heavier, which makes them more expensive to build and install. As a result, developers are less likely to include elevators in their floor plans. Regulations that were meant to make American buildings more accessible have actually done the opposite.

The second big problem is labor unions. Specifically, the International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC), which has a near monopoly on elevator installation and repair work in America.

Americans are getting ripped off. We have fewer elevators and less mobility than people living in poorer countries—thanks to overly aggressive regulations and special interests' profiteering.

Fewer, more expensive elevators mean housing is more expensive. It means that apartments and offices are less accessible for millions of Americans who have difficulty with stairs. And it makes life more difficult for just about everyone.

It doesn't have to be this way. The elevator once revolutionized how cities look and operate. Americans should demand changes so that the elevator can once again hoist us into a brighter future.

Producer: Eric Boehm

Video Editor: Regan McDaniel

Graphics: Adani Samat

Audio Production: Ian Keyser

Color Correction: Cody Huff

Cameras: Kevin Alexander and Cody Huff