10 Places Where the Most Adults Live With Their Parents

The big obstacles of housing costs and student debt have forced a profound change in American life over the last half-century.

A quarter of Americans aged 25 to 34 live in multigenerational family households, according to 2021 data. Pew Research Center, the nonpartisan pollster and researcher, calls living with parents “a respite from the storm” for young adults. For a sense of the significance of this change: In 1971, just 9% of young adults lived with their parents.

Jewelry merchandiser Shane Co., which sells engagement and wedding jewelry among other things, recently ranked the 100 largest U.S. cities by the share of 18- through 34-year-olds living with their parents. Shane Co. compiled information from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Zillow and other sources for its conclusions.

“Living with the parents can also help you save for an engagement ring and even plan your dream wedding,” the company says on its blog, The Loupe.

Following are the cities with the largest share of young adults living with their parents.

10. Los Angeles

Adults under age 35 in this city who live with parents: 41.8%

Los Angeles, with a population of 4 million, is the second-largest city in the United States.

Pew, looking into the change in multigenerational living among people ages 25 to 34, says that, in 1971, the share of adults who lived in multigenerational households was about the same among all age groups. Now, though, young adults are far more likely than other groups to live in a multigenerational home.

9. Miami

Adults under age 35 in this city who live with parents: 42.1%

The growing trend in multigenerational living is pronounced among young adults with no college degree, Pew says.

8. North Port-Sarasota, Florida

Adults under age 35 in this city who live with parents: 42.5%

The North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton metro area is on Florida’s western coast, midway between its southern tip and northern border.

Average monthly rent in the area is $1,789, Shane Co. finds. Although unemployment is low, the cost of groceries is higher than the national average.

7. El Paso, Texas

Adults under age 35 in this city who live with parents: 43%

In El Paso, a border city of more than 678,000 people in western Texas, 81% are high school graduates and 27% have a bachelor’s degree or higher. About 23% of residents are foreign-born, according to the Census Bureau.

6. New York City

Adults under age 35 in this city who live with parents: 43.2%

New York City is home to 8.6 million people, making it the largest city in the United States.

5. Stockton, California

Adults under age 35 in this city who live with parents: 43.4%

Stockton, home to about 322,000 people, is located at the north end of California’s inland San Joaquin Valley. The homeownership rate is 51%, and 16% of residents’ incomes are under the poverty line.

4. Poughkeepsie, New York

Adults under age 35 in this city who live with parents: 45.9%

Poughkeepsie is a small city in eastern New York state, with a population of around 32,000. The homeownership rate is about 37%, and the median household income is roughly $49,000, with about 19% of residents with incomes below the poverty line.

3. Riverside, California

Adults under age 35 in this city who live with parents: 46.7%

In Riverside, a city just 50 miles from downtown Los Angeles, it’s difficult for young adults to live on their own because of the area’s high ($2,167) average monthly rents and higher-than-average ($260) monthly utility costs, according to Shane Co.

2. McAllen, Texas

Adults under age 35 in this city who live with parents: 48.3%

In McAllen, a city along the U.S. border, the average rent is $918 a month, Shane Co. finds. Utilities add an average of $232 per month to the cost of rent, and both those costs are relatively low, it says.

“But the city has the highest unemployment rate in the country, making it no doubt extremely difficult for young people to move out on their own,” observes The Loupe.

1. Bridgeport, Connecticut

Adults under age 35 in this city who live with parents: 48.9%

In Bridgeport, the city with the highest share of young adults living in their parents’ homes, high ($1,370) average monthly rents in addition to average utility costs of $370 per month make it difficult for young people to live independently, Shane Co. says.