25.2 Million US Adults Under 35 Live With Parents in 2025 as Median Home Prices Near Five Times Median Income

The share of employed 25-to-34-year-olds living at home rose steadily after 2020 even as labor markets recovered. Existing-home prices climbed 54 percent since 2020 to above $400,000, requiring $120,000 annual income for a median mortgage at prevailing rates versus $66,000 in early 2020. National Association of Realtors projections place the median price at $1 million by 2050, locking in the ratio of home value to income near five times the level that prevailed in the 1990s. Federal Reserve data document the resulting wealth concentration: cohorts born after 1980 control roughly one-quarter of household net worth despite comprising a larger share of the adult population. This gap widens because earlier buyers captured capital gains unavailable to later entrants facing tighter supply and higher carrying costs. Delayed household formation reduces new construction demand and slows wealth accumulation through equity. Morgan Stanley analysis indicates affordability metrics are unlikely to revert to pre-2022 levels under current supply constraints and financing costs. Young cohorts therefore face sustained rental exposure and lower savings rates, shifting consumption patterns toward services rather than durables. Primary records from the Census Bureau and NAR confirm employment rates among co-resident adults remain near 70 percent, ruling out joblessness as the dominant driver. Absent policy shifts in zoning or credit allocation, the pattern sustains lower fertility and delayed retirement saving. By 2040 the affected cohorts will enter peak earnings years with reduced housing equity relative to prior generations, altering tax bases and entitlement financing.