Single Women Own More Homes Than Single Men in Most US States

Homeowner Michelle Harner stands in front of her house in the Piedmont Park neighborhood in Apopka, Fla., on April 14, 2016. AP Photo/John Raoux

Single women now own more homes than single men in most U.S. states for the first time in the nation’s history, according to a recent study.

In an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data from 2021, LendingTree released a report that found that single women who lived by themselves were outpacing single men in homeownership in 48 out of 50 states, excepting North and South Dakota.

Single women own roughly 10.76 million homes in America, compared to 8.12 million owned by single men, giving them a 2.64 million advantage.

This means that single female owners control about of 12.90 percent of the privately occupied homes in United States, versus 10.06 percent by single men.

Despite that women generally earn less money than men, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the so-called gender pay gap script has been turned on its head.

This new trend may have long-term effects on the financial market and on future generations, and was first noted by LendingTree in 2018.

Analyst are waiting to review the full effect of the pandemic’s impact on home buying when more census data come out.

Proportion of Single Women Outpacing Men in Homeownership Depends on State

Women now dominate ownership at the highest rates in southern states with cheaper home prices in states such as Louisiana, Alabama and South Carolina, according to the data.

The states of Florida, Delaware, and Maryland reported the widest gender gap among single homeowners.

Florida has approximately 262,000 more single women owning homes than men, with a 4.55 percent advantage gap.

Wyoming has the narrowest between the sexes, with a homeownership gender gap of only 0.39 percent.

Louisiana has the highest share of homes owned by single women, at 15.16 percent, two percentage points-plus more than the national average.

North Dakota and South Dakota are the only states where single men surpass single women in homeownership, as the job markets there are heavily dominated by male-oriented professions, such as oil drilling and construction.

Generational Changes Are Leading to Gender Reversal in Housing

There may be several reasons for the reverse gender gap in housing.

According to LendingTree, it appears that single women tend to prioritize homeownership more than single men, and combined with a narrowing pay gap, these are potential factors in the recent change.

More women also are enrolling and graduating from college than men over the past few decades, as higher education becomes more dominated by female students.

Women of the millennial and Gen-Z cohorts are now beginning to out-earn men in 22 states across the country and in cities like New York, Washington, and Los Angeles, especially in white-collar professions, according to the Pew Research Center.

In 107 other metropolitan regions, women younger than 30 still earn about 90–99 percent of what men younger than 30 do.

Meanwhile, more younger men are less likely to own homes, as old-school blue-collar jobs that can support a household become less available, while certain professions increasingly tend to give hiring preferences to younger women.

There is also evidence that single women are more willing than single men to make sacrifices to become homeowners and spend less for homes than men, said a report by the National Association of Realtors.

That node of data could help explain why single women proportionally own more homes than single men, even if they make less.

Couples Still Predominate Among Home Owners

However, homeownership is still dominated by older Americans, and separate factors may be a contribution to women becoming homeowners, says LendingTree.

According to the latest census data, women are twice as likely to report being widowed last year than men, which may be a possible reason why more women are now single homeowners.

Meanwhile, despite the growing number of single women possessing their own homes, the majority of homes still belong to couples.

At the same time, the effect of interest rates on mortgages is having a negative effect on homeownership, as millennials who struggled for years acquire their own private residences are now being resigned to remain renters.

The country is facing its worst housing market since 2009, when the economy was in the midst of the Great Recession and has put single-family housing out of reach for many potential buyers.

Reuters contributed to this report.