Homeownership rate hit lowest level in decades in 2020: Census

The U.S. homeownership rate hit its lowest level in five decades in 2020, falling by 2 percentage points in 10 years’ time, according to Census Bureau data released Thursday. 

Slightly more than 80 million out of 126.8 million occupied housing units across the country were inhabited by homeowners in 2020, putting the nation’s homeownership rate at 63.1 percent. 

This is the lowest homeownership rate since 1970. 

West Virginia and Maine had the highest 2020 homeownership rates at 72.6 percent and 71 percent, respectively. But each of these states experienced a decline from the 2010 Census figures. 

New York, California, Nevada, Hawaii and Rhode Island had the lowest homeownership rates among the 50 states, while Washington, D.C., had the lowest rate overall at 38.3 percent. The rate in the nation’s capital fell by 3.7 percent from 2010.   

Five states saw an increase in their homeownership rates in the decade between 2010 and 2020. Hawaii led the way, notching a 1.2 percentage point increase, raising its homeownership rate to around 59 percent. The Aloha State was followed by Alaska, which experienced a 0.8 percentage point increase over the decade.  

Idaho, South Carolina and Wyoming were the only other states to see their rates rise — each by a half percentage point or less. 

Broken down by race, 2020 homeownership rates were highest among white households at 70 percent, followed by Asian households coming in at 58.5 percent. The homeownership rate was lowest among Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander householders. 

On the rental side, housing units taken up by renters increased by close to 15 percent over the decade, reaching 46.8 million renter-occupied units.  

The Census Bureau noted that the pace of rental growth exceeded the homeownership rate in the previous census cycle between 2000 and 2010.