Greater Boston’s heavy concentration of multifamily housing units and college students contributes to a relatively low homeownership rate of 61.3 percent.
G. Scott Thomas
In a nod to Massachusetts’ heavy concentration of colleges and multifamily housing units, major metros throughout the Bay State have lower homeownership rates than most other heavily-populated regions in the United States.
According to a new analysis by Bizjournals.com, Greater Boston’s homeownership rate of 61.3 percent ranks 88th among the 109-largest metropolitan areas in the country. The region had 1.76 million occupied housing units at the end of 2011, the most-recent statistical period available. Of that amount, 1.1 million were owner-occupied, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.
Greater Boston, which includes communities in and directly around the cities of Boston, Cambridge and Quincy, ranked slightly better than the Providence-New Bedford-Fall River region, which was 89th nationally with 381,035 owner occupied units, equal to 61.31 percent of its total occupied housing stock.
The Worcester area ranked as the state’s top housing market, in terms of owner-occupied properties, boasting a 64.8 percent homeownership rate. With homeowners accounting for 192,527 of the region’s 296,948 occupied housing units, Worcester ranked 64th nationally. The Springfield area, with 265,490 occupied housing units, ranked 73rd nationally with a homeownership rate of 63.61 percent.
Port St. Lucie, which sits 120 miles north of Miami along Florida’s Atlantic coastline, boasted the country’s highest ownership rate of 75.9 percent — the only U.S. market to surpass the 75 percent threshold. Los Angeles is the only major market with a homeownership rate below 50 percent. It’s at 49.2 percent. The New York City area is next at 51.2 percent.
U.S. Homerownership Rates 2011
Metro
Occupied
housing
units
(2011)
Owner-occupied
Share
Rank
Renter-occupied
Share
Rank
Port St. Lucie, FL
164,108
124,609
75.93%
1
39,499
24.07%
109
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL
216,180
157,470
72.84%
2
58,710
27.16%
108
Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL
190,074
137,768
72.48%
3
52,306
27.52%
107
Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI
292,195
211,077
72.24%
4
81,118
27.76%
106
North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL
307,727
220,851
71.77%
5
86,876
28.23%
105
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ
312,237
223,811
71.68%
6
88,426
28.32%
104
Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA
222,738
158,981
71.38%
7
63,757
28.62%
103
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL
238,389
169,394
71.06%
8
68,995
28.94%
102
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
1,281,260
904,981
70.63%
9
376,279
29.37%
101
Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA
231,532
163,395
70.57%
10
68,137
29.43%
100
St. Louis, MO-IL
1,105,266
778,562
70.44%
11
326,704
29.56%
99
Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI
1,635,840
1,146,397
70.08%
12
489,443
29.92%
98
Birmingham-Hoover, AL
433,066
303,215
70.02%
13
129,851
29.98%
97
Lancaster, PA
193,231
135,268
70.00%
14
57,963
30.00%
96
Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL
217,648
151,549
69.63%
15
66,099
30.37%
95
Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, ME
211,202
146,829
69.52%
16
64,373
30.48%
94
Baton Rouge, LA
294,852
204,753
69.44%
17
90,099
30.56%
93
Pittsburgh, PA
980,405
679,166
69.27%
18
301,239
30.73%
92
Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN
805,714
554,054
68.77%
19
251,660
31.23%
91
Jackson, MS
198,067
136,113
68.72%
20
61,954
31.28%
90
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN
499,056
342,917
68.71%
21
156,139
31.29%
89
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL
165,343
113,453
68.62%
22
51,890
31.38%
88
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX
215,877
148,080
68.60%
23
67,797
31.41%
87
Winston-Salem, NC
189,075
128,914
68.18%
24
60,161
31.82%
86
Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY
232,906
158,795
68.18%
25
74,111
31.82%
85
Boise City-Nampa, ID
227,276
154,917
68.16%
26
72,359
31.84%
84
Syracuse, NY
252,215
171,897
68.16%
27
80,318
31.85%
83
Greenville-Mauldin-Easley, SC
241,622
164,425
68.05%
28
77,197
31.95%
82
Chattanooga, TN-GA
206,421
140,451
68.04%
29
65,970
31.96%
81
Raleigh-Cary, NC
425,406
289,015
67.94%
30
136,391
32.06%
80
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
2,220,655
1,508,676
67.94%
31
711,979
32.06%
79
Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA
220,530
149,707
67.89%
32
70,823
32.12%
78
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT
331,530
224,687
67.77%
33
106,843
32.23%
77
Akron, OH
274,696
186,106
67.75%
34
88,590
32.25%
76
Rochester, NY
418,779
283,566
67.71%
35
135,213
32.29%
75
Knoxville, TN
288,165
194,893
67.63%
36
93,272
32.37%
74
Wichita, KS
237,408
160,355
67.54%
37
77,053
32.46%
73
Jacksonville, FL
508,966
343,246
67.44%
38
165,720
32.56%
72
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
464,933
313,252
67.38%
39
151,681
32.62%
71
Columbia, SC
295,442
198,952
67.34%
40
96,490
32.66%
70
Kansas City, MO-KS
794,197
534,278
67.27%
41
259,919
32.73%
69
Scranton–Wilkes-Barre, PA
227,044
152,571
67.20%
42
74,473
32.80%
68
Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC
207,222
138,991
67.07%
43
68,231
32.93%
67
Tulsa, OK
366,331
245,491
67.01%
44
120,840
32.99%
66
Richmond, VA
474,191
317,688
67.00%
45
156,503
33.00%
65
Baltimore-Towson, MD
1,022,508
682,843
66.78%
46
339,665
33.22%
64
Salt Lake City, UT
375,903
250,917
66.75%
47
124,986
33.25%
63
Asheville, NC
180,249
120,258
66.72%
48
59,991
33.28%
62
Albuquerque, NM
345,157
229,639
66.53%
49
115,518
33.47%
61
Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA
334,671
222,474
66.48%
50
112,197
33.53%
60
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
1,110,034
737,519
66.44%
51
372,515
33.56%
59
Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, SC
258,454
171,262
66.26%
52
87,192
33.74%
58
Greensboro-High Point, NC
291,111
192,881
66.26%
53
98,230
33.74%
57
Indianapolis-Carmel, IN
674,976
446,715
66.18%
54
228,261
33.82%
56
Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC
671,191
443,616
66.09%
55
227,575
33.91%
55
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
345,662
228,119
66.00%
56
117,543
34.01%
54
Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY
467,535
307,685
65.81%
57
159,850
34.19%
53
Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN
613,496
403,456
65.76%
58
210,040
34.24%
52
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR
273,692
179,556
65.61%
59
94,136
34.40%
51
Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL-IN-WI
3,403,363
2,230,462
65.54%
60
1,172,901
34.46%
50
Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH
844,779
552,802
65.44%
61
291,977
34.56%
49
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA
265,492
173,534
65.36%
62
91,958
34.64%
48
Oklahoma City, OK
483,385
313,979
64.95%
63
169,406
35.05%
47
Worcester, MA
296,948
192,527
64.84%
64
104,421
35.17%
46
Spokane, WA
187,360
120,608
64.37%
65
66,752
35.63%
45
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA
1,896,087
1,219,873
64.34%
66
676,214
35.66%
44
Wilmington, NC
151,967
97,739
64.32%
67
54,228
35.68%
43
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
1,294,496
832,548
64.31%
68
461,948
35.69%
42
Toledo, OH
260,405
167,103
64.17%
69
93,302
35.83%
41
Dayton, OH
344,980
221,358
64.17%
70
123,622
35.84%
40
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC
612,156
392,416
64.10%
71
219,740
35.90%
39
New Haven-Milford, CT
326,523
207,792
63.64%
72
118,731
36.36%
38
Springfield, MA
265,490
168,871
63.61%
73
96,619
36.39%
37
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
2,071,390
1,317,084
63.59%
74
754,306
36.42%
36
Colorado Springs, CO
247,254
155,949
63.07%
75
91,305
36.93%
35
Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO
1,007,022
634,148
62.97%
76
372,874
37.03%
34
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
763,204
480,563
62.97%
77
282,641
37.03%
33
Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ
1,529,943
957,874
62.61%
78
572,069
37.39%
32
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL
765,469
479,215
62.60%
79
286,254
37.40%
31
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL
2,008,167
1,255,102
62.50%
80
753,065
37.50%
30
Memphis, TN-MS-AR
480,654
300,126
62.44%
81
180,528
37.56%
29
Lexington-Fayette, KY
189,941
117,541
61.88%
82
72,400
38.12%
28
New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA
456,878
281,381
61.59%
83
175,497
38.41%
27
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX
2,067,012
1,272,526
61.56%
84
794,486
38.44%
26
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR-MO
177,663
109,273
61.51%
85
68,390
38.49%
25
Columbus, OH
715,770
439,634
61.42%
86
276,136
38.58%
24
Tucson, AZ
379,801
233,230
61.41%
87
146,571
38.59%
23
Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH
1,761,868
1,080,710
61.34%
88
681,158
38.66%
22
Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA
621,515
381,035
61.31%
89
240,480
38.69%
21
Madison, WI
237,667
145,279
61.13%
90
92,388
38.87%
20
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
2,300,151
1,404,696
61.07%
91
895,455
38.93%
19
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
872,423
530,331
60.79%
92
342,092
39.21%
18
El Paso, TX
257,285
155,801
60.56%
93
101,484
39.44%
17
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI
615,107
371,781
60.44%
94
243,326
39.56%
16
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
203,088
122,498
60.32%
95
80,590
39.68%
15
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
1,364,274
817,886
59.95%
96
546,388
40.05%
14
Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville, CA
782,019
467,562
59.79%
97
314,457
40.21%
13
Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA
180,703
107,486
59.48%
98
73,217
40.52%
12
Stockton, CA
213,749
124,893
58.43%
99
88,856
41.57%
11
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
622,532
354,510
56.95%
100
268,022
43.05%
10
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX
663,866
376,355
56.69%
101
287,511
43.31%
9
Bakersfield-Delano, CA
254,761
144,094
56.56%
102
110,667
43.44%
8
Honolulu, HI
308,495
168,912
54.75%
103
139,583
45.25%
7
Fresno, CA
286,255
155,609
54.36%
104
130,646
45.64%
6
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
1,622,840
870,876
53.66%
105
751,964
46.34%
5
Las Vegas-Paradise, NV
696,834
373,500
53.60%
106
323,334
46.40%
4
San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA
1,061,056
565,447
53.29%
107
495,609
46.71%
3
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA
6,789,943
3,472,909
51.15%
108
3,317,034
48.85%
2
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA
4,194,650
2,064,002
49.21%
109
2,130,648
50.79%
1
Follow Your Favorites with My News
My News is a way to create a customized news feed based on companies and industries that matter to you.
Open all references in tabs: [1 – 5]