- NMHC’s Chris Bruen found higher housing costs relative to income go with lower household formation and more adults living with relatives or roommates across the 150 largest U.S. metros.
- Salinas and Riverside-San Bernardino have the lowest headship rates at 41.6%, versus 50.3% nationally, and a one-bedroom rent there takes about 70% of median individual income.
- After controlling for age, marital status and education, adults in every metro studied were less likely to form a household in 2024 than in 2014, pointing to latent demand tied to affordability.
Pricey housing is holding adults in shared homes, and that could be hiding apartment demand. A household formation research note from the National Multifamily Housing Council finds adults in costly metros are much likelier to share housing with parents or roommates.
Across the 150 largest metros, higher rent relative to income tracks with lower headship, meaning fewer adults head their own household.
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Salinas and Riverside Lead
Salinas and Riverside-San Bernardino posted the nation’s lowest headship in 2024, 41.6% against 50.3% nationally. In Salinas, 17.8% of adults lived with their parents, and in Riverside it was 20.8%, compared with 12.8% nationwide.
A one-bedroom in Salinas rents for about $1,800, which eats up 70.9% of what the typical individual earns there. Riverside is close behind at 69.9%, versus a 46.7% national average.
A Slow Slide Over Time
Adult headship barely moved from 1988 to 2026, going from 51.2% to 51.4%. But adults are older and better educated now, which should have lifted household formation.
Adjust for those changes, and adults have become less likely to form households. NMHC ties that to rents outpacing incomes, though it calls the relationship loose, since many other factors play a role.
Other Drivers
Age, marital status and education all matter. Household formation climbs from the early twenties into the early thirties, and people with more schooling are likelier to form households, even after adjusting for other differences.
Among young adults, marriage raises the odds of heading a household, while singles more often live with parents or roommates. At older ages it reverses, since a married pair shares one home.
Zoom Out
Other data points the same way. Our brief on young adults staying home cited Fed data showing 49% of adults under 30 lived with parents in 2025, 12 points above pre-pandemic levels, and warned the delay could slow lease-ups in youth-focused properties.
Why It Matters
Freddie Mac’s 3.7 million-home shortage estimate and the Brookings Institution’s 4.9 million both count latent demand, meaning households that would have formed if costs hadn’t climbed.
That demand is hard to measure, unlike apartment absorption. NMHC says it could become real demand in many metros if affordability improved.
What’s Next
NMHC cautions that affordability gains may be hard in an era of rising development costs, which leaves the pent-up demand waiting.
