California has ‘significant increases’ in Millennial homeownership. See top cities

As the cost of living in California continues to rise, buying a home has become increasingly difficult.

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Despite high home prices and ongoing affordability challenges, California leads the nation in Millennial homeownership growth, according to a new report from RentCafe.

“California tops the list of regions with the most significant increases in Millennial homeownership,” the real estate site said in its July 15 housing report.

Over the course of five years, RentCafe said, roughly 5.3 million Millennials became homeowners nationwide — which is a 74% increase in Millennial-owned households. During the same period, the number of Millennial renter households grew by 5%.

To identify where Millennials are choosing to rent and buy, RentCafe analyzed 107 metropolitan areas with the nation’s largest Millennial household populations and ranked them by their biggest gains in homeownership and renting.

Here are the California cities where Millennials are buying homes and choosing to settle down:

Where are Millennials renting in California?

According to RentCafe, several California cities rank among the nation’s largest hubs for Millennial renters.

Los Angeles tops the list, with 70% of Millennials renting their homes. San Jose follows at 66%, while 64% of Millennials rent in San Diego.

San Francisco rounds out the top five after New York, with more than 60% of Millennials renting.

According to RentCafe, other areas with large Millennial renter populations include Modesto and Fresno.

Where are Millennials buying homes in California?

While renting remains common in some of California’s biggest cities, RentCafe said, homeownership is on the rise across much of the country.

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RentCafe found that 83 of the 107 metro areas included in the report now have more Millennial homeowners than renters.

The biggest gains in Millennial homeownership were concentrated in small to mid-sized cities in California and Florida due to “more affordable home prices, manageable inflation, strong income growth and a higher quality of life.”

California claimed two spots in the nation’s top five cities “where more Millennials are buying.”

In the Central Valley, Stockton ranked at No. 4, with the number of Millennial homeowners climbing about 118%, from 17,333 in 2018 to 37,711 in 2023.

A Southern California city also made the list.

Oxnard ranked at No. 5, where Millennial homeownership increased about 114%, rising from 13,840 to 29,607 over the same period.

Which top US cities have the largest share of Millennial renters?

According to RentCafe, here’s where more Millennials are choosing to rent across the country:

1. Los Angeles
2. San Jose
3. San Diego
4. New York
5. San Francisco
6. Las Vegas
7. Miami
8. New Haven, Connecticut
9. Memphis, Tennessee
10. Oxnard

Where are more Millennials buying homes in the US?

RentCafe said these are the top 10 cities in the United States where more Millennials are buying homes:

1. North Port, Florida
2. Lakeland, Florida
3. Jacksonville, Florida
4. Stockton
5. Oxnard
6. Palm Bay, Florida
7. Austin, TX
8. Tucson, Arizona
9. Deltona, Florida
10. San Antonio

How did RentCafe come up with its findings?

RentCafe analyzed 107 metropolitan areas across the United States, with at least 50,000 Millennial households to identify where Millennials are renting and buying homes.

The report used the latest available data from the U.S. Census, along with job growth data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and local inflation data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The real estate site used data from 2023.

Millennial was defined as anyone born between 1981 and 1996.