Across the U.S., Millennials have gone from renters to owners at a remarkable pace — only 5 metros had a Millennial homeowner majority in 2018; by 2023, that number had grown to 82. In the West, most large metros remain firmly renter-majority — but Phoenix stands out as the region’s leading large metro to flip, and one that did it while rentership was also declining at the same time.

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Here are the details from RentCafe.com‘s latest report on Millennial renters and owners:

  • Millennial homeownership in Phoenix reached 54.5%, with 289,450 Millennial homeowners in 2023, up from 161,670 in 2018 — a 79% increase in five years, above the national average of 74%.
  • At the same time, Millennial renter households declined 3.3%, from 249,953 to 241,678. Phoenix didn’t just add homeowners — it shed renters, making it one of only two large Western metros where this happened. The other is Sacramento where Millennial renters dropped 2.8%. 
  • Riverside (53.3%), Denver (50.6%) and Portland (50.8%) also crossed the homeowner-majority threshold for Millennials. Unlike Phoenix, however, all three maintained or grew their Millennial renter populations: +13.8%, +5.1% and +0.12%, respectively. 

There’s more to Millennials than brunches and air fryers. In recent years, many have decided to settle down and buy homes. In fact, approximately 5.3 million Millennials became homeowners in just five years, which marks a 74% increase in Millennial-owned households. At the same time, the number of Millennial renters in the U.S. rose by a modest 5%, adding approximately 600,000 households. This brings the total number of Millennial homeowner households to 12.4 million, close to the 12.6 million Millennial renter households.

To better understand Millennial renting and owning trends across the U.S., we analyzed 107 metro areas with the largest Millennial household populations, highlighting those with the most significant gains in owning and renting.

Key takeaways

  • Millennial homeownership increased by 74% in five years.
  • The top 20 metro areas with the greatest increases in Millennial homeownership are led by sunny regions in Florida and California. Unexpected urban hubs such as Dallas, San Antonio, Philadelphia, and New York also made the list with ownership growth rates reaching 90% or higher.
  • The number of Millennial renters also grew, albeit by a modest 5% over five years, to reach a total of 12.6 million households.
  • Florida stands out for the most significant gains in Millennial renters, with Orlando experiencing a 34% increase.
  • The highest concentrations of Millennial renters remain in coastal powerhouses such as Los Angeles; San Jose, CA; New York; and San Francisco, where soaring home prices and limited housing supply continue to outpace even strong income growth.