Homeownership*

Loading interactive model…

About

Percentage of owner-occupied housing units. The 2024 Annual Data Release used data from 2018-2022 for this measure.

Housing is central to opportunities for living long and well, and stable and affordable housing is an essential element of healthy communities. Homeownership is associated with better health, fewer illnesses, and lower rates of depression and anxiety.1 Homeownership has historically been a springboard for families to enter the middle class. Owning one’s housing can, over time, help build savings for education or for other opportunities important to health and future family wealth. High levels of homeownership are associated with more stable housing and more tightly knit communities.

Find strategies to address Homeownership*

Data and methods

Data Source

American Community Survey, 5-year estimates

The American Community Survey (ACS) is a nationwide survey designed to provide communities with a fresh look at how they are changing. It is a critical element in the Census Bureau's reengineered decennial census program. The ACS collects and produces population and housing information every year instead of every ten years, and publishes both one-year and five-year estimates. We use American Community Survey data for measures of social and economic factors.

Website to download data
For more detailed methodological information

Key Measure Methods

Homeownership is a percentage

Homeownership is the percentage of occupied housing units that are owned.

Caution should be used when comparing these estimates across years

Caution should be used when comparing data across years as data comes from overlapping 5-year spans. Additionally, margins of error for 5-year estimates containing data collected in 2020 increased compared to prior 5-year estimates. For more information about data comparability please visit Comparing 2022 American Community Survey Data.

Numerator

The numerator is the total number of owner-occupied housing units in a county.

Denominator

The denominator is the total occupied housing units in a county.

Can This Measure Be Used to Track Progress

This measure can be used to track progress with some caveats. It is important to note that the estimate provided in the Health Snapshots is a five-year average. However, for counties with a population greater than 20,000, single-year estimates can be obtained from the resource below.

Finding More Data

Disaggregation means breaking data down into smaller, meaningful subgroups. Disaggregated data are often broken down by characteristics of people or where they live. Disaggregated data can reveal inequalities that are otherwise hidden. These data can be disaggregated by:

  • Age
  • Race
  • Education
  • Income
  • Subcounty Area

Homeownership (owner- or renter-occupied) can be calculated for census tracts and census block groups using table B25003. It can be calculated by race using tables B25003A-I; by age, table B25007; by education, table B25013; and by income, table B25118.  

References

1 Macintyre S, Hiscock R, Kearns A, Ellaway A. Housing, tenure and health inequalities: A three-dimensional perspective on people, homes, and neighbourhoods. In: Graham H, ed. Understanding Health Inequalities. New York: Open University Press; 2000.