Single women now make up more than 20 million homeowners in the U.S., outpacing the roughly 14 million single men who own homes today.
According to the National Association of REALTORS®, single women are entering the market in greater numbers and staying in their homes longer, making them a central force in today’s housing landscape.
What stands out is how this is playing out over time, with more women entering on their own terms and staying in the market once they get there.
Who’s Driving the Growth
What’s happening here comes down to real-life transitions and the long game people play in housing. And more women are stepping into the market on their own because of it.
More women are buying homes on their own, often after major life changes. Others are entering the market later than previous generations and staying put once they buy. Over time, that pattern shows up clearly in the data.
Here’s where the growth is happening:
- Divorced women saw homeownership rise from 55% to 60% over the past decade.
- Separated women increased from 33% to 39%.
- Never-married women moved from 30% to 34%.
Widowed women still lead with a homeownership rate of about 73%. That number reflects long-term ownership rather than new entrants.
Single women homeowners also skew older, with a median age of 63 compared to 57 for single men. They remain in their homes for about 18 years on average, while men average 16 years.
That longer hold period gives them more exposure to price growth and more time to pay down their mortgage, which strengthens their position over time.
Lower Income but Stronger Staying Power
The numbers here don’t follow the usual expectations. Income is lower on average, yet ownership rates are higher.
And that largely comes down to how long women stay in the market.
Single women homeowners bring in a median income of $58,000, compared to $69,000 for single men. That puts women at about 84 cents for every dollar men earn. Even with that difference, they continue to outpace men in homeownership.
There’s also more pressure on their monthly budgets. Housing takes up a larger share of income, which shows up clearly when you break it down:
- Single women spend about 30% of their income on housing.
- Single men spend about 26%.
At the same time, fewer women carry a mortgage:
- 51% of single women homeowners have a mortgage.
- 54% of single men homeowners have a mortgage.
That connects directly to how long they’ve owned their homes. Over an average 18-year period, homeowners have paid off close to 45% of their mortgage.
During that same stretch, home values have nearly doubled, adding more than $140,000, and helping many single women homeowners build more than $200,000 in housing equity.
Where This Trend Shows Up the Most
This pattern becomes even more noticeable when you zoom in at the local level. In many parts of the country, single women are leading the market.
In fact, the data shows single women have a higher homeownership rate than single men in a clear majority (57%) of U.S. metros.
Some markets stand out more than others, with wider gaps between men and women:
- Vallejo, CA
- McAllen, TX
- Asheville, NC
- Davenport, IA
- Palm Bay, FL
- Naples, FL
These aren’t limited to smaller or more affordable areas. The same dynamic shows up in some of the most expensive housing markets in the country, including San Jose, San Francisco, Seattle, and Los Angeles, where overall homeownership rates sit below 50%.
Growth is also accelerating in specific regions. Over the past decade, some of the largest gains have been concentrated in:
- Palm Bay, FL
- Cape Coral, FL
- Mobile, AL
- Stockton, CA
- Spartanburg, SC
- Las Vegas, NV
These markets tend to offer a closer match between home prices and local incomes, which creates more opportunities to enter the market.
The Bigger Picture: Timing, Tenure, and Staying Power
This story comes down to when people buy and how long they hold.
NAR’s data shows single women tend to enter the housing market later:
- Ages 25 to 34: homeownership rose from 20% in 2014 to 25% in 2024.
- Ages 35 to 44: increased from 36% to 40%.
- Nearly 70% of women aged 65 and older own their homes.
Entry may take longer, but ownership tends to last. Longer tenure gives homeowners more time to benefit from appreciation and continue building equity.
The payoff builds gradually the longer someone stays in the home.
