Where the most young adults live with their parents
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California and Texas are home to the major U.S. metro areas with the greatest shares of young adults living with their parents, a recent analysis finds.
Why it matters: While living at home as a young adult is sometimes viewed negatively as a "failure to launch," it can also reflect economic realities, cultural preferences, caregiving needs, and other factors.
The big picture: Nearly 18% of U.S. adults aged 25-34 were living in a parent's home as of 2023, per a Pew Research Center analysis of census data.
- That's down a bit after steadily increasing from 2000-2017, a period marked by multiple financial crises that changed the leaving-home calculus for many young adults.
Zoom in: Vallejo, California (33%), Oxnard, California (32.8%) and Brownsville, Texas (30.5%) have the highest shares of young adults living with their parents among U.S. metros with at least 250,000 residents, per Pew.
- Lincoln, Nebraska (2.9%); Springfield, Missouri (6.7%) and Utica, New York (7.8%) have the smallest shares.
Between the lines: Metros with more white young adults than average tend to have lower-than-average shares of young adults overall living with their parents.
- That jives with longstanding findings that white young adults are less likely than others to live with their parents, per Pew.
The intrigue: While some areas with relatively high shares of young adults living at a parent's home also have relatively steep housing costs, Pew didn't find a clear link between those factors.
The bottom line: Even when young adults do move out, they often wind up close to home anyway.
