Young college graduates are more likely to be living with their parents than they were before the housing bubble, especially in places that had a more exaggerated boom and subsequent crash.
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A new Zillow analysis of Census data finds the share of college graduates in their 20s increased the most between 2005 and 2016 in Las Vegas and Riverside, Calif. Nationally, 28 percent of recent college graduates live with their parents, up from 19 percent in 2005.
Near the end of 2004, homes were gaining nearly 50 percent in value each year. When the market collapsed, home values plunged by 62 percent, more than any other major U.S. market.
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In Las Vegas, 13 percent of graduates lived with their parents in 2005 while that number spiked to 39 percent in 2016.
"Being in college gives you that hope that one day you will get a job that can kind of compensate for all of those years that you had to struggle in college," says UNLV senior Madison Lewis.
But a college degree does not guarantee a high-paying job. Worse, wages aren't increasing and college remains expensive. Recent college graduates face the challenge of a higher cost of living and the burden of student loans.
College students 13 Action News spoke with also say it's tougher to find jobs nowadays.
"A lot of them are well you need to have experience. Some of us don't have experience so how are we supposed to get the job?" says Brandon Dailey.
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As more young graduates live with parents, the share living with a romantic partner was on the decline. In every large metropolitan area, a smaller share of college graduates in their twenties live with a partner than did in 2005. Las Vegas had the biggest decline in the share of recent graduates living as a couple, falling from 47 percent to 29 percent.
