Once the province of younger folk looking to handle the high cost of owning or renting, house sharing is finding increased acceptance among the older set.
As of 2023, seniors accounted for three out of every 10 house-sharing households.
Between 2005 and 2023, the number of households led by adults 55-to-64 years of age almost doubled to 1 million, according to the latest Census Bureau figures. That cohort saw their share of co-housing increase from 9% to 14% during the period.
But the share of house-sharers 65 and older increased 2.7 times. The oldest group now accounts for more than a million, or 15%, of all house-sharing households. That amount more than doubled their 6.8% share 20 years ago.
Overall, a record 6.8 million households share their living arrangements with people who are unrelated. That number had been rising steadily since the 2008 housing crash, from 5.3 million in 2008 to some 6.7 million in 2019 when the pandemic interrupted the upward trend and it all but fell apart.
“The pandemic dramatically redefined living arrangement preferences,” commented Natalia Siniavskaia, assistant vice president for housing policy research at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). “Reflecting the shift towards more spacious, lower-density independent living, the number and percentage of house-sharers collapsed in 2020.”
While the percentage of households sharing housing has climbed since the pandemic lows, it remains below the 2019 peak. But the raw count is now at a new record-high of 6.8 million, “largely reflective of a faster household formation rate since the end of the pandemic, as well as the growing popularity of home-sharing arrangements,” said Siniavskaia.
Young adults in the 25-34 age group make up the largest cohort – close to 1.6 million, or 23% of the total of households – that share housing with unrelated housemates.
College-age adults ages 18-24 make up the second-largest group of house-sharing householders at 1.2 million, or 17%, of the total. While their total counts are substantial, they represent a decline since 2005 when 1.3 million of college-age adults shared housing with unrelated roommates. Back then, they accounted for 22% of house-sharing households.
Next comes the seniors. The surge in their house-sharing arrangements simply reflects the country’s aging population, says Siniavskaia. As they grow older and lose their spouses, they are more inclined to live with unrelated people.
And, unlike the rates of house-sharing among younger adults, the rates for seniors appear to be less cyclical. While still largely unconventional among 55 and older householders, house-sharing is on the rise, the NAHB economist says, potentially offering a cost-effective option for older adults to stay in place as they age.
