While home ownership among millennials is on the rise, Fresno finds itself among the worst in the nation for that demographic.
Air filter manufacturer FilterBuy released a new report on home ownership rates, which have been rising since 2017 after rebounding from the late 2000s recession.
Nearly 24 percent of Fresno’s population falls into the millennial demographic, which is generally defined as people in their mid 20s to late 30s.
The latest census data shows that 33.6 percent of millennial householders in Fresno own their homes, behind the national average of 41.9 percent.
That puts Fresno as the sixth lowest millennial home ownership rate in the country among midsize metros, which are cities with 350,000 to 1 million people.
The only cities that fall behind Fresno are Santa Rosa, Oxnard-Thousand Oaks, Honolulu, Santa Maria-Santa Barbara and Salinas.
On the other end, Ogden-Clearfield, Utah; Port St. Lucie, Florida; Fort Wayne, Indiana; York-Hanover, Pennsylvania; and Boise, Idaho rank as the highest millennial home ownership rates among midsize metros, with all coming in above 55 percent.
A large factor in Fresno’s low ownership rates is the high median home price while median income has not kept pace.
The national average for millennial median income is $38,000, compared to just $30,000 for Fresno.
To go along with that, the median home price in the United States comes in at $303,288 while Fresno’s is $344,130.
Elsewhere in the San Joaquin Valley, Bakersfield ranked 52nd among midsize metropolitan areas, with a 42.8 percent millennial home ownership rate.
The Visalia-Porterville metro area rang in at 63rd among midsize communities with a 39.9 percent millennial ownership rate.
Barely edging Fresno were the Stockton-Lodi and Modesto metro areas, situated at the 76 and 78th rank.
Stockton-Lodi outpaced every Valley community with median home price, tabbed at $511,070, but still managed to avoid the basement in terms of millennial ownership with a 36.7 percent homeownership rate.
