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Bonnie Damon
Jeanne Woodward
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              More Householders Than Ever Own Their Homes 
                         According to Census 2000
					
Radio Soundbites

  A ratio of 2-in-3 U.S. householders (69.8 million or 66.2 percent) owned
their homes last year, according to new analysis of Census 2000 data
released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau.

  The analysis showed a total of 115.9 million housing units in the United
States in 2000, an increase of 13.6 million units or 13.3 percent since 
1990.  During the same period, the increase in owner-occupied homes 
10.8 million, or 18.3 percent far outpaced the rise in renter-occupied 
units 2.7 million, or 8.3 percent.  Rental units totaled 35.7 million.

  One in a series of Census 2000 briefs, the analysis, titled Housing 
Characteristics: 2000 [pdf], shows that the South (17.5 percent) and 
the West (16.7 percent) regions experienced higher rates of housing growth 
than the Midwest (10.1 percent)  and Northeast (6.6 percent).

   Highlights:

Historical perspective

     Between 1890 and 1940, less than half of U.S. households owned 
     their homes.
                                 
     The Great Depression drove ownership rates to their lowest level of
     the century in 1940 (43.6 percent). 

     Since the 1950 census, when homeowners represented 55 percent of all
     householders, the rate of homeownership has increased steadily.
                              
     By 1960, because of the post-World War II economic boom, favorable
     tax laws and easier mortgage financing, homeownership topped 
     60 percent. 
  
Homeowners across the nation

     The majority of householders in each of the four census regions owned
     their homes: Midwest, 70.2 percent; South, 68.4 percent; Northeast, 
     62.4; and West, 61.5 percent.

     Florida's metropolitan areas led in ownership rates among metro areas.

     West Virginia led all states in homeownership, with about 3 out of 4
     householders owning their homes in the Mountaineer state.

Renters across the nation

     Approximately one third of the 35.7 million renter-occupied units
     were located in the South and nearly a quarter in the West.  The rest 
     were about evenly distributed between the Northeast and the Midwest.

     Although renters outnumbered owners in the District of Columbia, the
     rental inventory decreased 3.5 percent from 1990 to 2000.

     In the nation's four largest cities, most householders were renters
     (New York, 70 percent, Los Angeles, 61 percent; Chicago, 56 percent; 
     and Houston, 54 percent).
                                 
Homeowners by age and marital status

     Approximately 4 out of 5 married-couple families owned their homes in
     2000. Empty nesters and other married couples without children under 
     18 were more likely(84.8 percent) than married couples with children
     (76.9 percent) to own their homes.
  
     More than half (55.4 percent) of families maintained by men without
     spouses present were homeowners, compared with about half 
     (49.6 percent) of families maintained by women without spouses.

     Women who lived alone were more likely than lone male householders to
     be owners,(56 percent versus 47 percent.) 

     Homeownership was related to the age of the householders.  Only about
     18 percent of young householders under 25 were homeowners, but the 
     percentage climbed  to 81 percent for householders 65 to 74 years old.