A new study that appears on ApartmentList.com finds that among households headed by prime working age adults, aged 25 years to 54 years 64.4 percent of White households are homeowners, compared to just 32.7 percent of Black households. Furthermore, the study found that for homeowners of this age group, the racial gap has increased since 1980. Since that year, the percentage of Whites ages 25 to 54 who owned their home declined by 5.9 percentage points. But the declines was 10.7 percentage points for African Americans in this age group.
The study found that the racial gap in home ownership rates was highest in the city of Minneapolis. There, 74.3 percent of Whites in the 25 to 54 age group owned their homes compared to just 19.6 percent of Blacks.
The report also includes data on the racial gap in home ownership by educational attainment. Whites who did not graduate from high school had a home ownership rate that was higher than the Black population who had attended but did not graduate from college.
The racial gap is smaller but is still significant for college graduates. Some 70 percent of Whites with a college degree own their home. But less than half of African American college graduates own their home. Even more striking is the fact that the racial gap in home ownership rates for college graduates has actually increased since 1980.
The authors of the study conclude that “the gaps in home ownership rates across races serve as a striking reminder of how far the United States still has to come in achieving housing equality, and it’s crucial that we strive to work toward more effective and inclusive tools for boosting home ownership for all Americans.”
