Published March 24, 2021
Single Women Own More Homes Than Single Men Do
Single women have closed one gender gap just to open another. According to a new analysis from loan marketplace LendingTree, single women own more homes than single men do—about 1.6 million more, to be exact.
We’ve come a long way, ladies. Throughout history, women have faced all kinds of outright financial discrimination, and some of that history isn’t so distant. It wasn’t until 1974, with the passing of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, that it became illegal to refuse a woman a credit card if she didn’t have a male cosigner.
But now, it seems, women are starting to catch up to and even outpace men in some areas.
The following metro areas have the largest share of single-women homeowners:
No.1 Tampa, Florida
· Owner-occupied households: 787,384
· Households owned and occupied by single women: 16.83%
· Households owned and occupied by single men: 11.63%
· Gender gap between single homeowners: 5.2%
No.2 Cleveland, Ohio
· Owner-occupied households: 559,157
· Households owned and occupied by single women: 16.2%
· Households owned and occupied by single men: 11.66%
· Gender gap between single homeowners: 4.54%
No.3 New Orleans
· Owner-occupied households: 300,688
· Households owned and occupied by single women: 15.93%
· Households owned and occupied by single men: 11.16%
· Gender gap between single homeowners: 4.77%
Boston has the largest gap in homeownership rates among single women and men. The gap there is 5.86%, which amounts to nearly 66,300 homes, followed by Miami (5.7% gender gap) and New York (5.69% gender gap).
In total, single women own nearly 1.6 million more homes than single men do in America’s 50 largest metros. Single women own about 5.2 million homes, while single men own about 3.6 million homes.
There isn’t a single metro among the largest 50 where single men own more homes than single women. The average difference between the share of homes that single women own compared to single men is 3.7%.
It’s difficult to pin down what’s behind the gender gap in homeownership rates. There is some evidence to suggest that single women prioritize owning a home more than single men do, which could help explain why they’re more likely to buy houses.
That being said, the studies and surveys conducted by LendingTree are far from conclusive and other factors could be at play.
