Record High US Young Adults Live with Parents Amid Soaring Housing Costs

A record 25.2 million adults under the age of 35 in the United States lived with their parents in 2025. This figure, representing one-third of all adults in this age group, surpasses even the peak observed during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new data released by Realtor.com. The primary driver behind this trend is not a struggling job market for young professionals, but rather the prohibitive cost of housing, which has made independent living increasingly out of reach.

The report highlights that approximately 70% of young adults aged 25 to 34 living with their parents are employed, with many holding college degrees. This underscores that the issue is fundamentally a supply-side problem in the housing market, rather than a lack of employment opportunities. The national median home listing price surged to $430,000, marking a 34.4% increase since 2019, while the median asking rent climbed to $1,673, up 17.9% over the same period.

This housing crunch is a continuation of a trend that intensified during the Great Recession and peaked during the pandemic. A decade-plus of slow new construction has kept housing prices prohibitively high for many young adults. The United States currently faces a housing deficit of approximately 4 million homes, a gap that has widened significantly since the slowdown in construction following the 2008 financial crisis.

The economic implications of this trend are substantial. Hannah Jones, Senior Economist at Realtor.com, stated, “Every adult still in a childhood bedroom is a household not formed, a lease unsigned, a starter home unpurchased.” This represents a generation of latent demand that the market has failed to absorb. The average age of a first-time homebuyer has now risen to 40, a significant increase from the historical norm of around 30. Furthermore, delaying homeownership has long-term financial consequences, with acquiring a home by age 30 associated with a 22.5% higher net worth by age 50.

In a broader economic context, the U.S. economy, particularly since the pandemic, has presented significant challenges for young people and recent college graduates. Recent data showed inflation hitting a three-year high of 4.2% in May, effectively eroding a year's worth of wage gains, largely driven by surging oil prices amid the conflict in the Middle East. Analysts at Morgan Stanley suggest that while housing affordability might modestly improve over time, it is unlikely to return to the more favorable levels seen in the past. They anticipate that affordability gains could stall around 2027 due to persistent higher interest rates across the economy and continued population growth among prime first-time homebuyer demographics.

Experts warn that this situation exacerbates pressure on the housing market, limiting turnover in the starter home segment and intensifying the affordable housing crisis. If living with parents serves merely as a financial backstop rather than a strategic savings plan, the delay in achieving independent living could compound, rather than resolve, existing economic challenges. Therefore, policies aimed at increasing housing supply and providing financial assistance are deemed crucial for empowering younger generations to achieve economic independence and boost household formation.