Home Rental Outpaces Homeownership In 500+ Cities

According to USA Today, 25 major cities - including Baltimore; Minneapolis; Salt Lake City; and Sacramento, Calif. - recorded a majority of homeowners in 2000 but had a majority of renters by 2010. Among the major cities experiencing a significant shift in the number of rented homes was Irvine, Calif., which swung from approximately 40% of rented homes in 2000 to 49.8% last year; Philadelphia, from 40.7% to 45.9%; Birmingham, Ala., from 46.3% to 50.7%; and Reading, Pa., from 49% to 57.6%.


USA Today also reports that Florida, California and Arizona had the most cities where the percentage of renter-occupied housing increased by at least five percentage points. On a national basis, 34.9% of occupied homes were rented last year, compared to 33.8% in 2000.