Full Breakdown
Rethinking Homeownership: A People-First Metric Reveals Gaps in U.S. Housing Ownership
7/21/2026, 10:42:22 PM
New People-First Measure
Researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis introduced the “homeowners-to-population ratio” (HPOP), which counts the share of adults who own the home they live in. This contrasts with the Census Bureau’s traditional homeownership rate, which measures the proportion of occupied housing units whose resident is the owner. The Minneapolis Fed analysis argues that HPOP offers a clearer picture of individual economic well-being because it reflects ownership at the person level rather than the unit level.
Key Findings on Adult Ownership
According to the analysis, the conventional homeownership rate stands at 65 %, while the HPOP places adult ownership at roughly 53 %—indicating that about 14 % of U.S. adults reside in owner-occupied homes without being owners themselves. The disparity is especially pronounced among younger adults. In 2024, the owner-occupancy rate for households headed by adults under 35 was 37 %, but the HPOP shows only 22 % of those adults actually own their homes. A separate Realtor.com study reported that a record 25.2 million adults under 35—about one in three—were living with their parents in 2025.
State-Level Disparities and Affordability
Every state exhibited a lower HPOP than its traditional rate, with the size of the gap correlating with housing costs. Hawaii displayed the widest gap: 62 % of housing units are owner-occupied, yet only 43 % of adults own their homes—a 19-percentage-point difference. Delaware and New Mexico each showed a 15-point gap. By contrast, North Dakota had the smallest gap—under 4 percentage points—which researchers linked to the state’s low rent-to-income ratio and a smaller share of young adults living with parents.
Implications for Economic Well-Being
The Minneapolis Fed team argues that HPOP better captures the true distribution of homeownership, especially for policy discussions about wealth accumulation and housing affordability. Because the metric accounts for adult children and other non-owner residents, it may reshape how economists assess the housing market’s health and how policymakers target assistance to groups most likely to be misrepresented by the traditional statistic.
