Full Breakdown
New Federal Reserve Measure Shows Fewer U.S. Adults Own Homes
7/24/2026, 12:28:22 PM
How the Homeowners-to-Population Ratio (HPOP) Redefines Ownership
The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis introduced the homeowners-to-population ratio (HPOP), which counts the share of adults who actually own a home. This differs from the U.S. Census Bureau’s owner-occupancy rate, which records the proportion of housing units occupied by their owners. The traditional metric can label a household as owner-occupied even when adult children, siblings, or roommates live there without owning the property, inflating the perceived level of ownership.
National and State-Level Findings
Using HPOP, researchers found that only about 53 % of U.S. adults own homes, far below the commonly cited 65 % figure derived from the Census measure. Approximately 14 % of adults reside in owner-occupied homes without owning them. State-by-state results reveal even lower rates in high-cost markets: California’s HPOP is 41.2 % versus a 55.9 % owner-occupancy rate, and New York’s HPOP is 43.3 % compared with a 54.3 % owner-occupancy rate.
Official Interpretation and Expert Commentary
He emphasized the need for agreement on terminology to avoid misleading conclusions. Georgetown University professor Francesco D’Acunto, who was not involved in the study, described the findings as a signal that homeownership affordability has worsened, noting that the new measure accentuates the severity of the problem.
Verbatim Quotes
- “We should be in agreement about what it is we're talking about, and when you hear that the homeownership rate is about two-thirds of Americans, you take that to mean two-thirds of adults are homeowners, which is factually not true,” — Erik Hembre, senior economist at the Minneapolis Fed and a co-author of the report — Erik Hembre, senior economist at the Minneapolis Fed and a co-author of the report.
