Homeownership More Common Among Single Women Than Single Men

In much of the United States, single women are outpacing single men when it comes to homeownership, according to new data from online loan marketplace LendingTree.

“This trend may be somewhat surprising, given the average woman in the U.S. only makes 80 percent of what the average man does,” said Tendayi Kapfidze, chief economist at LendingTree. “Nonetheless, the data clearly indicates that single women are more likely to own a home than single men are.”

For example, in the New York metropolitan area, single women own slightly more than 820,000 homes. In the Los Angeles metropolitan area, that number is around 460,000. On the flip side, single men own about 435,000 homes in the New York area and about 260,000 homes in the Los Angeles area. In both cases, single women owned nearly twice as many homes as single men did.

The study found that in all the 50 largest metropolitan areas, single women own more homes than single men do. On average, single women own more than 70,000 more homes in metro areas than single men do.

To determine the number of single homeowners in each metro area, LendingTree analyzed data from the 2017 American Community Survey and defined single homeowners as single men or women who live in owner-occupied homes.

Key findings:

• Single women own considerably more homes than single men do. On average, single women own around 22 percent of homes, while single men own less than 13 percent of homes.
• Oklahoma City was the metropolitan area where single men own the largest share of owner-occupied homes, at 16 percent. Even though single men own a greater proportion of homes in Oklahoma City than they do elsewhere in the country, they still own fewer homes than single women, who own 24 percent of residential properties in the area.
• New Orleans was the metropolitan area where single women own the largest share of owner-occupied homes. In this area, single women own nearly twice as many homes than single men do: 27 percent compared with 15 percent.

Metros with the largest share of single-women homeowners

New Orleans
Owner-occupied households: 299,556
Households owned and occupied by single women: 27.08%
Households owned and occupied by single men: 15.47%
Gender gap between single homeowners: 11.61 percentage points

Miami
Owner-occupied households: 1,252,418
Households owned and occupied by single women: 26.81%
Households owned and occupied by single men: 14.22%
Gender gap between single homeowners: 12.59 percentage points

Birmingham, Alabama
Owner-occupied households: 298,673
Households owned and occupied by single women: 25.44%
Households owned and occupied by single men: 13.75%
Gender gap between single homeowners: 11.70 percentage points

Metros with the largest share of single-men homeowners

Oklahoma City
Owner-occupied households: 324,907
Households owned and occupied by single men: 15.52%
Households owned and occupied by single women: 23.78%
Gender gap between single homeowners: 8.27 percentage points

New Orleans
Owner-occupied households: 299,556
Households owned and occupied by single men: 15.47%
Households owned and occupied by single women: 27.08%
Gender gap between single homeowners: 11.61 percentage points

Las Vegas
Owner-occupied households: 64,821
Households owned and occupied by single men: 15.30%
Households owned and occupied by single women: 21.03%
Gender gap between single homeowners: 5.72 percentage points