As Millennials get married and start families, they should be calling real estate agents and builders to check out new homes in order to start the next chapter of their lives. But for many builders, Millennial inquiries are few and far between. Just over one-third of people under 35 owned homes in 2018, compared to the national average of almost 64 percent. Yet there are still a fair number of young first-time buyers in the market, and in some locations, that demographic is growing. So where are they? Here are the top 10 cities where Millennials are setting down roots.
For millennials, generally defined as those 24 to 39, becoming a homeowner can feel out of reach. Just 33.7% of people under 35 owned homes in 2018, significantly below the national average of nearly 64%, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
But there is some good news: There are several U.S. cities where it’s become increasingly routine for young people to buy homes, a 2020 study from personal finance website SmartAsset found.
SmartAsset ranked 200 large U.S. cities based on two metrics: the percentage of residents under 35 who own homes and the 10-year change in the under 35 homeownership rate, which is the percentage change in homeownership among those 18 to 34 from 2009 to 2018. SmartAsset found each area’s average ranking and used it as the city’s final score, out of a possible 100.
For the study, SmartAsset used data from U.S. Census Bureau’s 2009 and 2018 1-year American Community Surveys.
