Record 25.2 Million US Adults Under 35 Live With Parents

A record number of American adults under 35 are living with their parents, according to a recent study from Realtor.com, as homeownership moves further out of reach and the cost of living climbs.

The online real estate firm found that 25.2 million adults under 35 lived at home in 2025 — a share higher than during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some moved back because they cannot afford a place of their own; others did so deliberately, to save money.

Most are working. Among 25- to 34-year-olds living at home, roughly 7 in 10 have jobs, Realtor.com found, but their wages are not keeping up with inflation.

Karleigh Gaudreau, a 34-year-old business coach and online content creator, is one of them. She told CBS News she could not afford to live on her own after breaking up with a boyfriend she had been living with in South Carolina. Gaudreau, who earns about $60,000 a year, said she could manage her share of the rent with a partner but not the full cost alone.

"To be able to afford that on top of our car payment, it's really hard to function off of anything, I believe, less than $85,000," she said.

Her situation reflects a broader squeeze. Rising home prices and higher mortgage rates have put a typical starter home beyond the reach of many Americans, according to a recent LendingTree analysis.

"Society as a whole has to respond," Susan Wachter, a professor of real estate at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, told CBS News. "It's affordability across the board. It's not just the price of the home and the mortgage."

For Gaudreau, the arrangement appears to be working as intended. After saving on rent while living with her parents, she plans to move into a place of her own in November.