A record 25 million adults under 35 are living with their parents

(NewsNation) — More Americans under 35 are living with their parents, but it’s not because they don’t have jobs.

That’s according to a new Realtor.com analysis, which found roughly 1 in 3 young adults — a record 25.2 million — were living at home in 2025.

After ticking down from its pandemic peak, the share of 18- to 34-year-olds living with their parents has climbed back to 33 percent, up 6 percentage points over the past two decades.

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But employment challenges don’t appear to be the main driver. Roughly 70 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds living at home are employed, a share that has remained relatively stable over the past 25 years, the report said.

Instead, the trend is “likely primarily fueled by a housing affordability crisis,” according to Hannah Jones, senior economist at Realtor.com.

Housing costs have surged in recent years: In 2025, the median home listing price was $430,000, up 34 percent from 2019, while the median asking rent was $1,673, up nearly 18 percent.

Realtor.com estimates a roughly 4-million-unit housing supply gap, leaving many young adults with fewer “realistic ways to form independent households.”

The rise in college attendance over the past 25 years could also play a role.

“More widespread student debt may be constraining what an entry-level salary can actually buy in terms of independent living,” Jones said.

By age 22 — a point at which college graduates historically entered the rental market — nearly half (49 percent) remain at home, up from 46 percent before the pandemic.

But the trend extends beyond those just starting adulthood. Among 30- to 34-year-olds, the share living with parents rose to nearly 13 percent in 2025, almost double the level in 2000.

Realtor.com traced the rise in adults living with their parents to two distinct periods: the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. Both eras brought economic disruptions that made it harder for younger generations to live independently.

“Every adult still in a childhood bedroom is a household that didn’t form, a lease unsigned, a starter home unpurchased,” Jones said.