From being named the No. 1 millennial magnet in 2024 to barely hanging on in the top ten last year, Austin has had a rocky relationship with its millennial residents in recent years. But a new report has restored Austin as one of the top 10 hottest destinations for millennials, whose local homeownership rate has risen more than 100 percent since 2018.
The number of millennials owning their homes in Austin has grown from 83,918 to 176,981 households over the past five years (110.9 percent), according to a new housing analysis from RentCafe.
The study compared the growth rate of homeownership and the growth rate of renters among millennials (based on the Pew Research Center’s definition of people born between 1981 and 1996) in 107 U.S. metropolitan areas from 2018 to 2023.
Austin ranked seventh on the overall list of U.S. metropolitan areas experiencing the highest growth in millennial homeownership since 2018. Nearly 47 percent of all millennials in the Austin area own their homes, while the remaining 53 percent rent, the report found.
Austin also ranked seventh on the national list of cities with the fastest growth among millennial renters. The number of millennial households renting jumped from 163,855 to 201,655 over five years, an increase of 23.1 percent.
“While this growth may be driven in part by younger millennials relocating for professional opportunities, (Austin, New York City and San Jose) are already well-established renter hubs, with more than half of millennials renting,” the report said.
According to analysts at RentCafe, approximately 5.3 million millennials have become homeowners in the past five years nationwide, representing a massive 74 percent increase in the number of millennial-owned households. Tenant growth rates have been much slower in comparison.
“At the same time, the number of millennial renters in the U.S. grew by a modest 5 percent, adding approximately 600,000 households,” RentCafe said. “This brings the total number of millennial homeowner households to 12.4 million, which is close to 12.6 million millennial renter households.”
While the number of millennial homeowners is on the rise, the same cannot be said for Generation Z. A separate RentCafe study found that less than 10 percent of all Gen Z households in Austin own their homes, and the vast majority rent.
Top 10 US metropolitan areas with the largest increase in millennial homeowners:
- #1 – North Port, Florida.
- No. 2 – Lakeland, Florida.
- No. 3 – Jacksonville, Florida.
- #4 – Stockton, California.
- No. 5 – Oxnard, California.
- No. 6 – Palm Bay, Florida.
- No. 7 – Austin, Texas.
- No. 8 – Tucson, Arizona.
- No. 9 – Deltona, Florida.
- No. 10 – San Antonio, Texas.