Millions of young (and not-so-young) adults still live at home
Facing affordability challenges, the share of 25- to 34-year-olds living with parents has risen after trending down during the pandemic.
During the pandemic, more young adults started living on their own, but as rents and home prices rose, that trend appears to have stalled.
About 8.5 million adults between the ages of 25 and 34 were living in the homes of their parents or parents-in-law in 2023, according to a National Association of Home Builders analysis of the most recent U.S. Census data. That's a slight increase from 2022 after declining for five consecutive years.
Trends over time: The financial crisis of 2008 had both immediate and lasting effects on millennials, who were about to embark on college or careers at the time. They found themselves saddled with student loan debt, and over the next decade, they had higher rates of unemployment than any other generation, making it difficult to save up for an apartment or house.
That coincided with a sharp increase in the share of young adults living with parents, which rose from about 15% in 2007 to 22% — or 9.7 million young adults — a decade later.
But in 2019, the percentages began trending back down, with big drops between 2020 and 2022.
While below peak levels seen in 2017 and 2018, the latest numbers remain well above historical levels. In 2000, for example, just 12% of young adults (4.6 million) still lived at home.
Why have declines stalled? Depleted savings from the pandemic era, elevated mortgage rates, and high rents and home prices have worsened affordability, said Natalia Siniavskaia, a housing policy researcher at the NAHB.
As a result, more young adults are continuing to live with parents or in-laws, a trend that "has profound implications for household formation, housing demand, and the housing market," Sinavskaia wrote.
It's already showing up in homebuying data: The share of first-time buyers dropped to a historic low between 2023 and 2024, and the median age for first-time buyers rose to a record 38, according to NAR's latest profile of buyers and sellers.
More than a quarter of young adults live at home in some markets: Generally speaking, states with the biggest housing affordability issues had the highest share of young adults living with their parents. California topped the list, with 26.5%, followed by New Jersey (26.3%) and Hawaii (25.2%). Regionally, Sunbelt states and the Northeast had higher shares of young adults staying in parental homes, while affordable areas like North Dakota (5%) and South Dakota (7%) had the lowest shares.
Multigenerational living, which is more prevalent among non-White and Hispanic households, hit a record high in NAR's 2024 consumer survey. That may be contributing to the increase in adult children living at home — particularly the higher numbers in Southern states with larger Hispanic populations — but affordability challenges remain the key factor, Siniavskaia said.