Cities with the Most Adult Children Living at Home

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Updated 5/4/2024

Mother’s Day is just around the corner and millions of adult children will travel home for the holiday.

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However, an increasing number of adult children won’t need to travel at all – because they are already living at home with their parents.

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To better understand why and where adult children live with their parents, researchers at TruckInfo.net analyzed data from the US Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Federal Reserve. They found the following trends.

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Adult children are twice as likely to live with their parents than in 1967

Both men and women between the ages of 25 and 34 are twice as likely to live with their parents than in 1967. While there was a steady increase until the early 2010s, the figure has grown significantly in recent years.

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Economic factors like job stability and home affordability play a significant role in adult children living with parents

Since 1967, men have steadily exited the labor force and increasingly started living with their parents – suggesting a decrease in job stability and earnings opportunities have negatively impacted men “leaving the nest.”

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Even for men gainfully employed, many struggle to afford a home. Since 1984, the home-price-to-income ratio in the US has nearly doubled – meaning homes are twice as expensive today than in 1984.

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Coastal and southern states are more likely to live with their parents

Compared to the national average, adult children in coastal cities and the south are much more likely to live with their parents. Conversely, states in the Midwest and Mountain West are more likely to live with their spouses than the rest of the country.

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States with the most & fewest adult children living at home

Top	States	% living with Parents
1	New Jersey	43.3%
2	California	38.6%
3	Connecticut	38.6%
4	New Hampshire	37.4%
5	New York	37.0%
6	Delaware	36.9%
7	Maryland	36.1%
8	Rhode Island	35.9%
9	Mississippi	35.8%
10	Florida	34.8%

Bottom	States	% living with Parents
1	North Dakota	11.9%
2	District of Columbia	12.5%
3	South Dakota	19.8%
4	Iowa	21.1%
5	Wyoming	21.7%
6	Montana	21.9%
7	Nebraska	22.5%
8	Colorado	22.8%
9	Kansas	23.1%
10	Alaska	24.5%

Large cities with the most & fewest adult children living at home

Top	Large Cities	% living with Parents
1	Detroit, MI	41.9%
2	Bakersfield, CA	39.3%
3	El Paso, TX	38.4%
4	Las Vegas, NV	37.0%
5	Arlington, TX	37.0%
6	Long Beach, CA	36.7%
7	San Jose city, CA	36.6%
8	New Orleans, LA	34.6%
9	Fresno, CA	33.6%
10	New York, NY	33.5%

Bottom	Large Cities	% living with Parents
1	Seattle, WA	8.7%
2	Minneapolis, MN	11.3%
3	Austin, TX	11.3%
4	Nashville-Davidson, TN	12.1%
5	Denver, CO	12.4%
6	Washington, DC	12.5%
7	Atlanta, GA	13.6%
8	San Francisco, CA	15.2%
9	Portland, OR	15.6%
10	Boston, MA	16.2%

Mid-size cities with the most & fewest adult children living at home

Top	Midsize Cities	% living with Parents
1	Corona, CA	60.5%
2	Elk Grove, CA	58.6%
3	Port St. Lucie, FL	58.3%
4	Fontana, CA	56.8%
5	Lancaster, CA	56.3%
6	Pembroke Pines, FL	56.1%
7	Palmdale, CA	54.8%
8	Yonkers, NY	52.4%
9	Garden Grove, CA	52.4%
10	Joliet, IL	52.4%

Bottom	Midsize Cities	% living with Parents
1	Madison, WI	8.0%
2	Fort Collins, CO	8.7%
3	Springfield, MO	9.3%
4	Salt Lake City, UT	10.7%
5	Tempe, AZ	10.8%
6	Alexandria, VA	11.6%
7	Cincinnati, OH	11.6%
8	Pittsburgh, PA	12.0%
9	Lubbock, TX	12.8%
10	Tallahassee, FL	13.1%

Small cities with the most & fewest adult children living at home

Top	Small Cities	% living with Parents
1	Yorba Linda, CA	64.6%
2	Weston, FL	62.0%
3	Brentwood, CA	60.8%
4	Carson, CA	60.7%
5	Miramar, FL	59.8%
6	Chino Hills, CA	58.5%
7	Jurupa Valley, CA	57.9%
8	Baldwin Park, CA	57.9%
9	Sugar Land, TX	57.5%
10	South Gate, CA	57.0%

Bottom	Small Cities	% living with Parents
1	Ames, IA	3.9%
2	College Station, TX	5.3%
3	Somerville, MA	5.5%
4	Bloomington, IN	5.8%
5	Bismarck, ND	5.9%
6	Ann Arbor, MI	6.2%
7	Boulder, CO	6.2%
8	Greenville, NC	6.2%
9	Jacksonville, NC	6.5%
10	Athens-Clarke County, GA	7.2%

Full Data

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Data Sources & Methodology

To calculate the percentage of adult children living at home, researchers sourced data from the US Census Bureau and divided the number of adults ages 18-34 living at home with their parents by the total number of adults ages 18-34 in each geography. Population data, income data, and the age of first marriage data was also sourced from the US Census Bureau. Labor force participation rates were sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and home price information was sourced from the Federal Reserve.

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To better compare cities of various sizes, large cities were defined as those with a population over 350k, mid-size cities as populations from 150,000-349,999, and small cities as populations from 50,000-149,999.

About the Author

Kyle Fretwell has worked as a researcher and data journalist for over a decade. His work has appeared in publications such as Bloomberg, Fox Business, MSN, USA Today, CNBC, and the Houston Chronicle.

He now manages TruckInfo.net's content team and is a regular fixture at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville.