Same Old for California When It Comes to American Dream

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: The Golden State barely inches past the Empire State when it comes to the relative lack of home owners.

The rate of homeownership in California was 55 percent from 2022 through 2024, beating out only New York, which clocked in at 53 percent of its households living in a home they own, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.

The data draws from U.S. Census Bureau records and considers individuals or households as owners of residential units they occupy as primary residences, including single-family homes and condominiums and other multifamily properties.

The data goes back to 1988, covering the dot-com bust of the early 1990s, the Great Financial Crisis of 2008 and the COVID era. From start to finish, however, the outlook is remarkably similar to 37 years ago.

In 1988, California registered the second-lowest rate of homeownership at 54 percent, with New York claiming the dubious distinction of the rock-bottom ranking at 52 percent.

The bottom-dwelling coastal markets are topped by a number of smaller states on home ownership rates, with housing prices apparently low enough to offset the general condition of lower wages on average in smaller markets. West Virginia notched the highest rate of ownership in the nation, at 78 percent, with Delaware, Mississippi and Maine all at 75 percent.

Two markets that are generally seen as challengers to California and New York on many measures — Texas and Florida — were in the back half of the rankings. Texas placed 44th with a homeownership rate of 63 percent, and Florida ranked 31st at 68 percent.

For all their growth — Texas is now the second-most populous state in the nation, and Florida is third — their relative positions have not changed a great deal over the past 37 years. Texas ranked 43rd in 1988, with a range of 60 percent, while Florida came in 35th at 65 percent.

The homeownership rate nationally came to 69 percent last year, and was 67 percent in 1988.

— Jerry Sullivan