Home-Ownership

Visualizing Home-ownership Rates in all 3,000 + U.S. Counties

Deciding to own vs. rent is one of the biggest financial decisions most Americans will make in their lifetime since housing costs are typically the largest monthly expense for most households.

So, what percentage of Americans decide to own their housing unit? According to the 2012 - 2016 American Community Survey, 63.6% of all housing units in the U.S. are owned and 36.4% are rented.

Home-ownership rates can vary quite a bit from one region to the next, though. For example, only 3.6% of residents in Kalawao County, Hawaii choose to own. Contrast that with Daggett County, Utah, where the home-ownership rate is the highest in the U.S. at 93.1%

To get a better idea of how popular renting vs. owning is across the U.S., check out the map below that shows the home-ownership rates in all 3,000+ U.S. counties.

How Does Your County Compare?

The home-ownership rate in is 73.2%.

This is 9.6 percent higher than the national average.

Technical notes: This map was created using D3.js, a javascript library for producing visualizations. Code for this visual is based on this D3.js Block by Mike Bostock.