Demographic Differences Between Renters and Homeowners

Renters have less income and are less well educated than their home owning counterparts but they are generally satisfied with their neighborhoods’ public transportation services and schools. But if they are planning to move, close to 40% of renters say choose a different neighborhood in the same city. All this is according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 American Housing Survey, which provides a demographic profile of owners and renters and the types of housing and neighborhoods they choose.

Renters’ median annual household income was $41,000, far lower than the $78,000 for homeowners. Bachelor’s degrees or higher were more prevalent in homeowners, 41.6% to 28.7%, the survey showed.

Homeowners dominate the housing landscape though, especially in the Midwest, where they comprised 70.3% of the population in Q1, the highest in the nation. Next were the South (67.3%), Northeast (62.7%), and West (61.9%).

The highest rental vacancy rate was in the South (8.3%) followed by the Midwest (7.5%), West (4.3%), and Northeast (4.1%).

The rates in the Midwest and South were higher and the rate in the Northeast lower than a year earlier; the rate in the West was not statistically different from Q1 2022.

Most renters were in a building with two or more apartments (61.5%) and felt confident in that their neighborhoods had good public transportation services (61%) and schools (89.3%). US homeowners’ ratings in those categories were much higher.

Of the 14,375,000 renters planning to move in the next 12 months, 39.3% said they planned to move to a different neighborhood in the same city.