{"id":5323,"date":"2026-07-24T14:39:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T14:39:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5323"},"modified":"2026-07-24T14:39:59","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T14:39:59","slug":"is-california-homeownership-less-obtainable-than-we-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5323","title":{"rendered":"Is California homeownership less obtainable than we think?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div><iframe allow=\"geolocation\" allowfullscreen=\"yes\" allowtransparency=\"1\" class=\"iframe\" height=\"550px\" id=\"6a63793b6d2f4\" loading=\"lazy\" scrolling=\"yes\" src=\"https:\/\/flo.uri.sh\/visualisation\/29765167\/embed\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>New numbers from economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis suggest far fewer Californians \u2013 and Americans, too \u2013 own a home.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5321\">Bay Area growers see uptick in locally-grown lettuce sales amid cyclospora outbreak<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The recalculation of ownership is more tied to the people who are tracked than any key economic factors.<\/p>\n<p>Start with the traditional number from the Census Bureau. It tells us the share of households living in a home they own. Group housing \u2013 think college dorms or senior living arrangements \u2013 isn\u2019t counted.<\/p>\n<p>However, the Minneapolis Fed\u2019s number looks at adults living in households as well as those group settings. So the non-owner count grows to include people such as young adults still living at home, folks who rent a room or those in group-living sites.<\/p>\n<p>Sadly, no matter the statistical efforts, here\u2019s what the new math confirms for the umpteenth time: It\u2019s terribly difficult to be a California homeowner.<\/p>\n<p>My trusty spreadsheet\u2018s peek at the Minneapolis Fed\u2019s math found 41% of Californians were homeowners last year. That\u2019s the second-lowest percentage among the states and well below the nation\u2019s 53%. Only the District of Columbia was lower, at 35%.<\/p>\n<p>Now, where do the most people own their residences, according to the Minneapolis Fed? Wyoming at 66%, Maine at 65% and Vermont at 64%.<\/p>\n<p>These new numbers aren\u2019t very kind to California\u2019s economic arch-rivals, either.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Texas has 50% of residents who own, which is the sixth-lowest rate. And Florida\u2019s 53% share was the 13th lowest.<\/p>\n<h4>Old school thinking<\/h4>\n<p>Let\u2019s review the old numbers from the Census Bureau. These figures weren\u2019t friendly to the Golden State either.<\/p>\n<p>Census stats say California\u2019s 56% share of households that owned their home in 2025. That ranked third-lowest among the states. Only D.C. at 41% and New York at 54% were lower.<\/p>\n<p>The nation comes in at 65%, with the highest ownership in West Virginia at 76% and in Delaware and Vermont at 74%.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>And the rivals? Texas at 62% ranked eighth-lowest, while Florida\u2019s 68% ranked 24th-best.<\/p>\n<h4>Mind the gap<\/h4>\n<p>So what does the gap between the new and the traditional yardsticks tell us about the nation?<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5315\">Big rig jackknifes and overturns; northbound I-238 to I-880 closed<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Ponder how these two ownership metrics compare when they\u2019re measured against slices of state rankings using other economic factors.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s start with how old a state\u2019s population is. The 17 oldest states have a median age of 42 vs. 39 for the 17 youngest.<\/p>\n<p>The traditional census numbers show a median ownership level of 69% in the oldest states vs. 67% in the youngest ones.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a slightly narrower difference in the Minneapolis Fed\u2019s math: 58% ownership in the oldest states vs. 57% in the youngest.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s simply more confirmation that ownership is largely an older folks\u2019 game.<\/p>\n<p>Next, eyeball the share of young adults living at home with their parents. The 17 states with the most have 36% at home vs. 25% in 17 states where it\u2019s less common.<\/p>\n<p>Ownership runs 67% where kids were most likely to be at home, by the traditional census stats, a smidgen below 68% where this trend is rare.<\/p>\n<p>But there\u2019s a decided difference in the Minneapolis Fed math. The median ownership is just 53% when kids-at-home is highest vs. 59% when it is lowest.<\/p>\n<p>This is a living arrangement often tied to financial pressures on young adults. Because no matter how you slice it, costs limit ownership.<\/p>\n<p>Contemplate one measure of homebuying affordability, a payment-to-income ratio. The 17 most affordable states see typical house payments run at 86% of incomes, vs. 55% in the 17 states where homebuying is a huge financial stretch.<\/p>\n<p>Both ownership metrics tell a depressing tale.<\/p>\n<p>Census stats show the most affordable states with higher median ownership, 68% to 64%. Meanwhile, the Minneapolis Fed\u2019s new math shows 58% ownership where affordability\u2019s best vs. 53% where it was worst.<\/p>\n<p><em>Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5313\">Malcolm-Jamal Warner\u2019s widow opens up about his \u2018unfair\u2019 death<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Minneapolis Fed&#8217;s math found 41% of Californians were homeowners vs. Census 56% of households.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Is California homeownership less obtainable than we think? - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5323\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is California homeownership less obtainable than we think? 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