New data by Redfin reveals that the number of homeowner households in America fell 0.1% year-over-year to an estimated 86.2 million in Q2 2025, as the number of renter households rose 2.6% to an estimated 46.4 million—one of the largest increases in recent years.
Redfin based its analysis on U.S. Census Bureau data, defining a renter household as one where the head of the household reports to the Census that they are renting out the property, while a homeowner household is one where the head of household reports they own the property.
“America’s homeowner population is no longer growing because rising home prices, high mortgage rates, and economic uncertainty have made it increasingly difficult to own a home,” said Chen Zhao, Redfin’s Head of Economics Research. “People are also getting married and starting families later, which means they’re buying homes later—another factor that may be at play.”
The median home sale price rose 1.4% year-over-year in July to $443,867—the highest July level on record. And mortgage rates currently sit at 6.56%, more than double the all-time low recorded during the pandemic. As a result, more Americans have opted to keep renting rather than buying a home, meaning more people are forgoing home equity—a key way to build wealth.
And with mortgage rates having begun to slide in recent weeks, down from a peak of over 7% at the start of the year, many are only just now beginning to emerge from the shadows and jump into the American dream of homeownership.
Despite the number of homeowners nationwide having fallen recently, the homeownership rate has remained steady, coming in at 65% as of the second quarter of 2025, down slightly from 65.6% a year earlier. The rate of renters was 35%, up slightly from 34.4% a year earlier.
Except for Rochester, New York and Cleveland, Ohio, the greatest gains in homeownership were found predominately on the southern portion of the U.S. Redfin analyzed the nation’s 75 largest metropolitan areas, and found the Q2 homeownership rate was the highest in the following markets:
- North Port, Florida 79.5%
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana 78.6%
- Charleston, South Carolina 76.9%
- Cape Coral, Florida 74.0%
- Albuquerque, New Mexico 73.5%
- Rochester, New York 73.0%
- Indianapolis, Indiana 72.1%
- Tucson, Arizona 72.0%
- Virginia Beach, Virginia 71.5%
- Cleveland, Ohio 71.7%
Major metros continue to price people out of pursuing the American dream, rentership rates in some of the largest cities dominated the top 10 list. Redfin found the Q2 rentership rate was the highest in the following markets:
- Los Angeles, California 53.6%
- New York, New York 50.6%
- San Diego, California 48.3%
- Las Vegas, Nevada 47.7%
- San Jose, California 46.1%
- San Francisco, California 46.0%
- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 44.1%
- Austin, Texas 43.1%
- Miami, Florida 42.5%
- Honolulu, Hawaii 41.7%
- Denver, Colorado 41.0%
Click here for more on Redfin’s examination of renter versus owned households nationwide.
