Housing News

More Young Adults Are Living with Their Parents: Here’s the Housing Math Behind It

This Father’s Day, millions of dads across the country won’t need a phone call or a visit to spend the holiday with their adult children…because those kids live with them.

That’s because a record number of younger adults are now living with their parents as housing costs soar.

About 25.2 million adults under the age of 35 lived with their families in 2025, according to a recent report from Realtor.com based on U.S. Census Bureau data. That’s about one in three of those ages 18 through 34.

Roughly 70% of adults are working. Living at home may help many to save up to live on their own and eventually purchase homes.

“The adults living with their parents today are largely employed, and many hold college degrees,” said Realtor.com Senior Economist Hannah Jones in a statement. “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. This is a supply story, not an employment story.”

Nationally, the median home list price was $429,500 in May, according to Realtor.com data. That’s about 34.4% higher than in 2019.

Meanwhile, the typical monthly rent was $1,686, up about 17.9% from 2019.

Much of the affordability problem is due to a lack of homes for rent and sale. The U.S. was short about 4 million homes to rent or buy, according to Realtor.com.

About 17.7 million adults ages 18 through 24, half of whom were employed, lived with their families in 2025, according to the report. That number fell sharply to 4.5 million adults ages 25 through 29 and 3 million adults ages 30 to 34.

“Every adult still in a childhood bedroom is a household not formed, a lease unsigned, a starter home unpurchased,” Jones said. “The typical first-time buyer is now 40. That’s not a coincidence, it’s the math of a market that hasn’t built enough.”