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In 2020, 7.2% of U.S. Family Households Were Multigenerational
Multigenerational households — three or more generations under one roof — made up 4.7% of all U.S. households but 7.2% of family households in 2020, an increase from 2010.
Family households are those with at least one person related to the householder by birth, marriage or adoption.
There were 6.0 million U.S. multigenerational households in 2020, up from 5.1 million in 2010, according to 2020 Census data released recently.
Multigenerational households were more prevalent throughout the South, Puerto Rico and some western states.
Multigenerational households were not equally distributed across the nation and the map below (Figure 1) shows the percentage of all family households that were multigenerational in 2020 by county.
While 2020 Census data show that 7.2% of all family households were multigenerational nationwide, county level percentages are wide-ranging, from 0.5% to 31.0%.
Multigenerational households were more prevalent throughout the South, Puerto Rico and some western states. This is consistent with 2010 data that also showed a higher percentage of multigenerational households throughout the South and West.
In 2020, many counties in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, for example, had a high percentage of multigenerational households (Table 1). However, other states in the West like Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, had many counties with a lower prevalence of multigenerational households. These households were also less common in the Midwest and Northeast.
Children Living With Grandparents
In 2020, 6.1 million or 8.4% of children under age 18 lived in their grandparents’ home (Figure 2), up from 5.8 million in 2010.
Counties in Puerto Rico and throughout states in the South and West tended to have a greater share of children living in their grandparents’ home while counties in the Midwest – particularly in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota and Wisconsin – had a smaller share.
The five counties with the greatest shares of children living with their grandparents were predominantly in the West, and those with the smallest shares were all in the Midwest.
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Page Last Revised - June 13, 2023
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