Single Ladies, Celebrate This Homeownership Feat

More single female Americans own homes than single men, per latest research
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 19, 2024 4:10 PM CST
Single Ladies, Celebrate This Homeownership Feat
Stock photo.   (Getty Images/David Sacks)

Women in the US still earn around 82 cents for every dollar earned by men, but when it comes to single ladies owning their own homes, they rule the roost over their single male counterparts. New LendingTree research that examined data from the Census Bureau found that women on their own claim 2.71 million more homes in their name than single guys, with single women notching close to 13% of owner-occupied homes across the nation (10.95 million residences). Single men, meanwhile, have their names on the titles of just over 10% of those homes (8.24 million).

That's good news for women who are trying to build up their bank accounts. "A home for most people is going to represent the biggest portion of their overall net worth," LendingTree's Jacob Channel tells CBS News. "Owning a home helps you access considerably more wealth." Delaware is the state with the largest share of abodes with a solo female owner, followed by Louisiana and Mississippi. Single men, meanwhile, claim the highest homeownership rates in New Mexico, North Dakota, and Alaska, with Channel citing the male-dominated industries in that trio of states.

A report from Pew Research last June made a similar find, noting that, if looking only at the 35.2 million homes owned in 2022 by single Americans, women owned 58% of them, to men's 42%. Still, that gap was much larger two decades ago: In 2000, women owned 64% of that market, versus the 36% owned by men. One possible reason Pew notes for this shift: "Single women no longer so heavily outnumber single men among older household heads." In 2000, three-quarters of those serving as heads of household were single women, while now, that number hovers closer to two-thirds. (More homeowners stories.)

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