A large share of Dallas’ adult population struggles to leave the nest, according to a new report.
About 1 in 5 Millennials in Dallas and over two-thirds of Gen Z-ers still live at home with family, one of the highest percentages in the country, says a new report by RentCafe, a nationwide apartment search website.
Millennials are classified as persons born between 1981 and 1996, while Gen Z is the cohort born between 1997 and 2012, according to RentCafe.
In total, 67% of Gen Z-ers and 19% of Millennials in Dallas still call their family home their own, slightly below the national averages of 68% and 20%, respectively. These percentages equal roughly 625,000 out of Dallas’ 932,000 Gen Z-ers and approximately 65,000 of the city’s 340,000 Millennials.
Many “young Gen Z adults are choosing familial confines as opposed to independent living,” thus “bucking the time-honored tradition of ‘flying the nest’” and “weaving a complex narrative of economic, social, and familial ties in modern America,” the report states.
When examining Texas metros with the largest share of Gen Z-ers still living at home, Dallas and Austin each have 67%, San Antonio has 70%, and Houston has 73%, according to RentCafe.
As for Millennials living at home with parents, 19% still call Dallas and Houston home, while 16% and 15% have yet to leave the coop in San Antonio and Austin, respectively.
With two-thirds (67%) of Millennials and Gen Z-ers still living at home, Dallas has one of the county’s largest shares of young adults living at home despite seeing a respectable number of young adults leave the nest over the past few years.
In the past five years, Dallas’ share of Millennials and Gen Z-ers living at home has shrunk by 29% and 19%, respectively.
While much of the trend in Dallas can be pinned on Millennials and Gen Z-ers facing challenges in leaving their family’s nest, Felicity Domentii, RentCafe’s communication specialist, told The Dallas Express that “some are consciously choosing to remain there.”
For instance, the report notes that Gen Z-ers may find it more appealing to live at home to save money on expenses, such as childcare costs, utility bills, rent, or for a future down payment.
However, some are not content with staying at home with their parents and have aspirations beyond the confines of their childhood home.
As reported by The Dallas Express, a recent Chase survey of more than 2,500 Millennials and Gen Z-ers shows that the majority of respondents (78%) say that their goals of homeownership are within reach, despite several factors making it more difficult, such as housing affordability, inflation, interest rates, and the rising cost of living.
RentCafe based its study on the latest IPUMS data to pinpoint the metro areas where Millennials and Gen Z-ers primarily live with their families. Overall, RentCafe examined individuals living in multigenerational households across 260 U.S. metro areas available from 2022 and 2018 estimates.
To view RentCafe’s full report, click here.
