Majority of Millennials Are Now Homeowners

More than half of U.S. millennials are now homeowners, having transitioned the demographic from a renter-majority to owners-majority status in 2022.

According to new data published by RentCafe, 52% of U.S. millennials were homeowners as of last year. This demographic gained 10.8 million homeowners in the last decade, including 7.1 million in the last five years to reach 18.2 million in 2022.

With the rise of millennial homeownership, Gen Z has become the nation’s only renter-majority generation with a 74% share – a number fueled by 4.5 million renters between the ages 18 and 26 who were added in the last five years.

RentCafe determined that the average millennial purchased their first home when they were 34 years old, a later age than their parents or grandparents – Gen Xers reached the homeownership milestone at an average age of 32 in 2003 and baby boomers gained this status at an average age of 33 in 1987. However, the delay by millennials can be attributed to housing affordability and shifting generational values, especially in the aftermath of the Housing Bubble.

Still, many millennials have yet to take the homeownership plunge – while there are 18.2 million millennials as homeowners, there are also nearly 17.2 million renters in this demographic. By comparison, baby boomers have the largest group of homeowners at 32.1 million while that demographic has 9.1 million renters.

As for the top millennial homebuying markets, Virginia’s capital of Richmond was the top site among the nation’s 50 largest urban areas – the number of millennial owners tripled in the last five years. As for millennial renters, the major hubs for those eschewing homeownership for rental housing were Cleveland, Raleigh, San Jose and San Diego.