What is a triple wide manufactured home?
A triple wide manufactured home is a HUD-Code home built in three transportable sections that are joined on site to form one continuous structure. The three sections create assembled widths of 37 to 47 feet, which is roughly double the width of a single-section home.
Manufactured homes are factory-built dwellings regulated by the federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards, known as the HUD Code, which has governed every home built since 15 June 1976. A triple wide manufactured home applies that same standard at three times the section count, producing floor areas that overlap directly with entry-level site-built houses. Builders join the sections along interior walls called marriage lines, then finish the seams so the completed home reads as one room-to-room structure rather than three boxes.
The industry calls these homes multi-section or three-section homes. Buyers call them triple wides, triple wide mobile homes or triple wide trailers. All four terms describe the same product. The word "mobile home" technically refers to homes built before the HUD Code took effect in 1976, though it remains the most common everyday term.
How big is a triple wide manufactured home?
Triple wide manufactured homes measure 37 to 47 feet wide and 48 to 84 feet long once assembled, enclosing 1,600 to 3,180 square feet. The average across the 56 plans in this database is 2,414 square feet at 42 feet wide.
Width is the specification that decides whether a triple wide fits a given property, and it is also the one most retailers leave off their listings. 48 of the 56 plans here publish an assembled footprint. The remaining 8 are Jacobsen Homes plans, which the manufacturer lists by square footage and bedroom count only.
Each of the three sections travels to the site as a separate oversize load. Dividing the assembled widths in this database by three gives a mean section width of 14.0 feet and a maximum of 15.7 feet. That is not a coincidence. Most states cap manufactured home transport at a 16-foot box width, and Arkansas refuses permits above 18 feet, so manufacturers design three-section homes to stay under the cap rather than build wider sections that cannot legally reach the customer.
How much does a triple wide manufactured home cost?
Published base prices for triple wide floor plans run $230,523 to $346,900, averaging $261,302 across the 15 plans that disclose a price. That works out to roughly $102 per square foot for the home alone, before land, delivery, site work or foundation.
Base price is the figure a retailer advertises for the home as it leaves the factory. It excludes five cost categories that every buyer pays: delivery of three separate loads, site preparation, the foundation, utility connections and permits. The US Census Bureau's Manufactured Housing Survey put the 2025 average sales price of a new multi-section manufactured home at $156,170, against $95,074 for a single-section home. Triple wides sit at the top of the multi-section range because they carry the most square footage and the most complex delivery.
A $249,018 base price is not a $249,018 project. Delivery for a three-section home runs $5,000 to $22,000 because each section moves as its own permitted load. Site preparation adds $4,000 to $15,000, foundations $3,000 to $36,000 depending on type, and utility connections to raw land $9,000 to $34,500. Budget the landed cost, not the sticker.
Which manufacturers build triple wide manufactured homes?
10 manufacturers publish triple wide floor plans: Cavco, Deer Valley Homebuilders, Jacobsen Homes, Skyline Homes, Palm Harbor, Marlette, Karsten, Franklin Homes, Champion Homes and Live Oak Homes. Cavco and Deer Valley list the most three-section plans.
Three-section homes are a specialty product rather than a volume product. The industry produced 102,738 HUD-Code homes in 2025 across 147 plants in 28 states, and triple wides are a small fraction of that total because they require wider lots, more complex delivery and higher-capacity retail financing than double wides. That scarcity is why the plan count per manufacturer stays small even at the largest builders.
| Manufacturer | Plans | Square footage | Max bedrooms | Widest plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cavco | 12 | 1,968–3,116 | 4 | 42 ft |
| Deer Valley Homebuilders | 10 | 2,280–3,180 | 4 | 47 ft |
| Jacobsen Homes | 8 | 1,600–2,560 | 4 | — |
| Palm Harbor | 6 | 2,250–2,810 | 4 | 43 ft |
| Skyline Homes | 6 | 1,786–2,586 | 5 | 42 ft |
| Marlette (Clayton) | 5 | 1,920–2,761 | 3 | 40 ft |
| Karsten | 4 | 2,534–2,762 | 4 | 45 ft |
| Franklin Homes | 3 | 2,136–2,850 | 4 | 45 ft |
| Live Oak Homes | 1 | 2,013–2,013 | 3 | 45 ft |
| Champion Homes | 1 | 2,617–2,617 | 4 | 40 ft |
Is a triple wide a manufactured home or a modular home?
A triple wide is a manufactured home when it is built to the federal HUD Code and carries a HUD Certification Label. Section count does not decide the classification. Modular homes are defined by being built to state and local building codes instead of the HUD Code.
Several high-ranking pages state that HUD classifies any home with more than two sections as a modular home. That claim is false. The HUD Code applies to single-section, double-section and multi-section manufactured homes alike, and a three-section home receives a HUD Certification Label exactly as a double wide does. The manufactured-versus-modular distinction rests on which code the home was built to, not on how many boxes arrive on the truck.
The distinction carries real consequences, which is why the confusion matters. HUD-Code homes and modular homes are appraised differently, financed through different loan products and treated differently by local zoning ordinances. Some manufacturers build the same floor plan to either standard depending on the destination state, so the identical layout can arrive as a manufactured home in one county and a modular home in another.
How much land do you need for a triple wide manufactured home?
Most counties require half an acre or more for a triple wide manufactured home. The assembled home occupies 37 to 47 feet of width before setbacks, which typically add 10 to 15 feet on each side and 15 to 20 feet at the rear.
Lot width is only the first constraint. Delivery requires a route that accommodates three oversize loads, which means 13 to 15 feet of vertical clearance and turns wide enough for a 60 to 84 foot section on a transport frame. Narrow lanes, low branches, tight corners and soft ground stop more triple wide purchases than zoning does. Verify road access before signing a purchase agreement, because a home that cannot physically reach the site is still a home you have bought.
Land-lease communities rarely accommodate three-section homes. Most community lots were platted for single and double wides, so triple wides go on privately owned land, which in turn shapes how they are financed and whether they appreciate.
Frequently asked questions about triple wide manufactured homes
- What is a triple wide manufactured home?
- A triple wide manufactured home is a HUD-Code home built in three transportable sections that are joined on site to form one continuous structure. The three sections create assembled widths of 37 to 47 feet, which is roughly double the width of a single-section home.
- How much does a triple wide manufactured home cost?
- Published base prices for triple wide floor plans run $230,523 to $346,900, averaging $261,302 across the 15 plans in this database that disclose a price. Those figures cover the home only. Land, delivery, site preparation, foundation and utility connections are additional.
- Is a triple wide a manufactured home or a modular home?
- A triple wide is a manufactured home when it is built to the federal HUD Code and carries a HUD Certification Label. Section count does not decide the classification. Modular homes are defined by being built to state and local building codes instead of the HUD Code.
- How many bedrooms can a triple wide manufactured home have?
- Triple wide floor plans offer 2 to 5 bedrooms. 30 of the 56 plans in this database have 4 or more bedrooms, which is the main reason buyers choose three sections over two.
- How much land do you need for a triple wide manufactured home?
- Most counties require half an acre or more for a triple wide manufactured home. The assembled home occupies 37 to 47 feet of width before setbacks, which typically add 10 to 15 feet on each side and 15 to 20 feet at the rear.
- Can a triple wide manufactured home be moved after it is installed?
- A triple wide manufactured home can be moved, but the contractor must separate the three sections and tow each one independently. Transport-only moves cost $5,000 to $22,000, which is why most triple wides are moved once, from the factory to the site.