More young adults are living with their parents, according to a new report from Realtor.com.
The report, released Thursday, found that one in three adults younger than 35 live with their parents — near an all-time high. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, 33.9% of young adults lived at home.
Realtor.com said affordable housing — not a lack of jobs — is a major factor. Seven in 10 adults ages 25 to 34 who live at home are employed, the report said. Listing prices have risen 34% since the pandemic, making homeownership increasingly out of reach.
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“The adults living with their parents today are largely employed, and many hold college degrees. What’s holding them back isn’t a lack of qualifications, but rather, at least in part, a lack of housing they can actually afford,” said Hannah Jones, senior economist at Realtor.com. “This is a supply story, not an employment story.”
While college-age adults are the most likely to live with parents, the trend is growing fastest among those 30 to 34. As of 2025, 12.7% of adults in their early 30s lived at home, up from just over 7% two decades ago.
Nearly 69% of 30- to 34-year-olds living at home are employed, and 26.8% have a bachelor’s degree. Employment and education rates are even higher among 25- to 29-year-olds living at home.
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“Twenty-five million adults living with their parents represent a significant pool of latent housing demand that the market has so far failed to absorb,” the report said. “Every adult still in a childhood bedroom is a household that didn’t form, a lease unsigned, a starter home unpurchased. The consequences extend beyond the co-residence statistics. Homeownership is a key vehicle through which American families build generational wealth, and each year a young adult spends at home rather than building equity in a first home is a year of wealth accumulation lost.”
