Share of Young Adults Living With Their Parents Drops to Decade Low
Despite record high inflation rates, rising interest rates and worsening housing affordability, young adults continued to move out of parental homes in 2022. According to NAHB’s analysis of the 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS), the share of young adults ages 25-34 living with their parents or parents-in-law declined and now stands at 19.1%. This percentage is a decade low and a welcome continuation of the post-pandemic trend toward rising independent living by young adults.
Traditionally, young adults ages 25 to 34 constitute around half of all first-time home buyers. Consequently, the number and share of young adults in this age group who choose to stay with their parents or parents-in-law has profound implications for household formation, housing demand and the housing market.
The share of adults ages 25 to 34 living with parents reached a peak of 22% in 2017-2018. Although a nearly three percentage point drop since then is a welcome development, the share remains elevated by historical standards, with almost one in five young adults in parental homes. Two decades ago, less than 12% of young adults, or 4.6 million, lived with their parents. The current share of 19.1% translates into 8.5 million of young adults living in the homes of their parents or parents-in-law.
Comparing NAHB’s estimates of the share of young adults in parental homes against NAHB/Wells Fargo’s Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) data reveals that, until the pandemic, the rising share of young adults living with parents had been associated with worsening affordability. Conversely, improving housing affordability had been linked with a declining share of 25- to 34-year-old adults continuing to live in parental homes. The strong negative correlation disappeared in the post-pandemic world, with young adults continuing to move out of parental homes despite worsening housing affordability and rising cost of independent living.
NAHB Assistant Vice President for Housing Policy Research Natalia Siniavskaia highlights factors that contributed to this trend in this Eye on Housing post.
Latest from NAHBNow
Jul 02, 2025
5 Proven Strategies Smart Builders Use to Grow in Any MarketSound Capital has worked with builders across market cycles for over 20 years. They have seen who thrived when others pulled back, and they've studied the strategies they used to scale while competitors were sidelined. Here are five things they all had in common.
Jul 02, 2025
From Disaster Relief to Challenging Gas Bans, HBAs are Making a DifferenceNearly two dozen HBAs received Association Excellence Awards for outstanding contributions they made on behalf of their members and communities in 2024.
Latest Economic News
Jul 02, 2025
Two or More Story Home Starts Rebound in 2024Over half of new single-family homes built in 2024 were two or more stories, according the recent release of the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC). After declining in 2023, the share of homes started with two or more stories increased again in 2024, continuing the upward trend in place since 2020.
Jul 01, 2025
May Private Residential Construction Spending DipsPrivate residential construction spending fell by 0.5% in May, marking the fifth straight month of decreases. This drop was primarily driven by reduced spending on single-family construction. Compared to a year ago, total spending was down 6.7%, as the housing sector continues to navigate the economic uncertainty stemming from ongoing tariff concerns and elevated mortgage rates.
Jul 01, 2025
Flat Job Openings for ConstructionThe count of open, unfilled positions in the construction industry held steady amid a slowdown for housing, per the May Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).