February 12, 2020: During the fourth quarter of 2019, 65.1% of Americans lived in homes owned by them or their families. That places current levels of homeownership right in the middle of long-term trends.^[1]

Homeownership peaked at 69.2% in 2004 before declining every year to a 50-year low in 2016. At that point, just 62.9% were homeowners. However, the trend has reversed over the past three years.^[2]

Current levels of homeownership are higher than they were in the 1960s and generally comparable to the 1970s. The 1980s and early ‘90s experienced slightly lower levels of homeownership. Then, from the mid-90s to 2004, homeownership grew to unprecedented levels.^[2]

Through it all, however, homeownership has remained broadly stable, consistently measured between 63% and 69%.^[2]

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Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology. Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.

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