{"id":176785,"date":"2024-08-26T14:08:37","date_gmt":"2024-08-26T20:08:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/?p=176785"},"modified":"2024-08-27T07:43:39","modified_gmt":"2024-08-27T13:43:39","slug":"there-are-more-renters-than-homeowners-in-wealthy-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/there-are-more-renters-than-homeowners-in-wealthy-states","title":{"rendered":"There Are More Renters Than Homeowners in Wealthy States\u2014Why?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you’re looking to snag a cheap rental property in one of America’s less affluent states, like West Virginia, Mississippi, or Alabama, you might <\/span>have a hard time<\/span> getting it rented.<\/span> That’s because, according to <\/span>Federal Reserve<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>U.S. Census Bureau<\/span><\/a> data, states with lower incomes per capita tended to have the highest homeownership rates. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As strange as that might sound, it <\/span>largely<\/span> comes down to the cost of homes and resident demographics. States with <\/span>pricier homes<\/span><\/a> tend to contain more cities with younger people who cannot afford <\/span>to buy<\/span> a home or don’t want to <\/span>be saddled<\/span> with a mortgage. In more rural areas, the opposite is true. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zoning also has a lot to do with it. <\/span>In pricier states, land is <\/span>both<\/span> hard to come by and <\/span>not always<\/span> zoned for residential use.<\/span> According to a recent <\/span>CNN<\/span><\/a> article, <\/span>it’s possible to buy<\/span> 90 acres in West Virginia for less than half a million dollars.<\/span> In more affluent states, <\/span>that<\/span> might <\/span>not even buy you<\/span> a 500-square-foot studio apartment.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, restrictive zoning laws in major cities are currently <\/span>being rethought<\/span><\/a> by both Democrats and Republicans as the housing crisis pushes both buying and renting out of reach for many Americans.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CNN article also cites Federal Reserve data, which reveals that despite West Virginia’s average personal income of $52,585 per capita\u2014the second-lowest in the country\u2014it also has the highest homeownership rate\u201477%\u2014of all 50 states. Similarly, Mississippi, which has lower personal income levels than West Virginia, has the third-highest homeownership rate in the U.S. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n