Recently, owning a home has become more difficult for many people. Three years ago, a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage had a rate as low as 3%. That figure is nearly 7% now. People may pay hundreds, if not thousands, more in monthly payments than they did three years ago. Because of those costs, many people have chosen to rent instead of buy.
Online lending marketplace Lending Tree says the overall percentage of home ownership in America’s top 50 metros was 61.72% in 2022. The number has risen throughout the pandemic. The figures show that, based on “analysis of the latest U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data, the share of owner-occupied homes in the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas increased by 93 basis points from 2019 to 2022 and 108 basis points from 2012 to 2022.”
The U.S. metro with the highest home ownership rate is also among the poorest and has a high poverty rate. The ownership rate is more than 71% in Detroit, based on 1.7 million occupied units. The metro also has a low median home value of $245,500.
Among the top 10 metros in terms of home ownership, many are poor and have low median home values. These include Pittsburgh, with a median home value of $209,800, and St. Louis, at $237,700. (See which states have the highest property taxes.)
At the far end of the spectrum, the metros with the lowest home ownership percentage are Los Angeles (median home value of $847,700), San Francisco ($1,135,500), and San Jose ($1,422,600). The ownership percentage in each of these cities was below 57%.
These 10 cities have the highest percentage of home ownership:
| City | Housing Units | Homes Owned |
| Detroit | 1,762,104 | 71.49% |
| Minneapolis | 1,483,453 | 70.54% |
| Pittsburgh | 1,021,314 | 70.45% |
| St. Louis | 1,168,546 | 69.67% |
| Birmingham | 443,821 | 69.46% |
| Louisville | 535,884 | 69.18% |
| Cincinnati | 916,246 | 69.10% |
| Raleigh | 559,173 | 67.80% |
| Salt Lake City | 448,172 | 67.65% |
| Richmond | 538,478 | 67.63% |
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