What is the Average Length of Home Ownership?

By the end of 2023, just over 65% of the U.S. population owned a home. This is slightly lower than the rate of 65.9% at the end of 2022.?Housing, family and employment are the top factors prompting homeowners to move, with 41.6% of Americans citing housing-related factors as the catalyst for a move, such as wanting a newer or bigger home and wanting to own instead of rent.?The average length of U.S. home ownership in 2024 is 11.9 years.?While this number is nearly double the length of homeownership recorded in 2006 (6.5 years), homeownership has actually been on the decline since 2020.

KEY INSIGHTS

• The average U.S. homeowner stays in their home for 11.9 years.
• The median homeowner income was $107,000 in 2023 — a notable increase from $88,000 in 2022.
• The average age of a first-time homeowner is 26, while the average age of a repeat homebuyer is 56.
• Los Angeles, California, residents have the longest homeownership tenure at 18.7 years. By comparison, the average homeownership tenure in Louisville, Kentucky, is just 7 years.

Homeownership statistics

The length of homeownership can vary significantly, with some homeowners staying in the same property for only a few years, while others may remain for decades or even their entire lifetime. Several factors can influence the duration of homeownership, including personal circumstances, financial considerations, job relocation, family dynamics, and local housing market conditions.

Homeownership by age

The median age of first-time U.S. homebuyers is 35, while the median age of repeat buyers is 58.?Still, in 2022, 39% of U.S. homeowners were younger than 35, showing that younger generations are buying homes.

A growing number of baby boomers are choosing to retire in place, and as a result, are driving up the age of the average homeowner: 40% of baby boomers have lived in their homes for at least 20 years and another 16% have lived in their home for 10 to 19 years.?While 35% of Gen X have lived in their homes for at least 10 years, only 7% of millennials have.

Homeownership by income

The median income for homebuyers jumped from $88,000 in 2022 to $107,000 in 2023.?This historic increase is likely due to the competitive housing market, favoring the bids of higher-income buyers.

First-time homebuyers have a median household income of $95,900, while repeat home-buyers have a median income of $111,700.

Length of homeownership

In 2024, the average length of U.S. homeownership is 11.9 years. While this number is nearly double the length of 6.5 years in 2006, home ownership has been on the decline since 2020.

Homeownership tenure by state

California homeowners tend to stay put the longest. In fact, three of the five longest tenures occur in major California cities: Los Angeles, San Jose and San Francisco. The average Los Angeles homeowner stays in their home for 18.7 years — the longest in the country.

Conversely, homeowners tend to move more frequently in affordable metro areas, predominantly in the South. Three of the five cities with the shortest length of homeownership are in North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee.

Average homeownership by year

Even though the country experienced the highest homeownership rate of the decade in 2020 the U.S. housing market hasn’t quite recovered from the burst of the 2008 housing bubble.

The second quarter of 2020 recorded the highest rate of homeownership since 2007 at 68.1%, likely fueled by homeowners unwilling to move during the beginning and most uncertain part of the COVID-19 crisis. However, homeownership began to decline starting in the third quarter of that year, likely due to rising mortgage rates, inflation and an increasingly competitive housing market driven by demand.

Conclusion

In summary, homeownership tenure has increased over time, with people now typically owning a home that they purchase for 12 years. It will be interesting to see in the post-pandemic world if people will continue to stay in their current homes or look to move and capitalize on changing workplace trends in the future.

Depending on the region and age of the home, the length of homeownership can vary. We can continue to expect fast-growing areas to build many new places to live and have lower average ownership tenures with recent arrivals moving in. We can also expect people to continue to stay in their homes longer in pricy and competitive markets.