I'm surprised too, but depending on what equipment is in the house the neutral can see much less current than the hot. US residential is usually split phase pow

I'm surprised too, but depending on what equipment is in the house the neutral can see much less current than the hot. US residential is usually split phase power, so 240 is provided by two out of phase 120 wires. Since most large loads (air conditioner, stove, oven, etc) use 240v they don't put a load on the neutral. The 120v devices put a load on the neutral but if the house is well wired they cancel each other out since half are on one leg of the 120 and half on the other. From the power service view they act like one large 240v device.