- Salt Lake City is the U.S. metro where Gen Z adults own the highest share (3.6%) of homes with three or more bedrooms.
- Virginia Beach, VA (3%), Oklahoma City, OK (2.9%), Louisville, KY (2.7%) and Indianapolis (2.6%) round out the top five.
- Nationally, Gen Z adults own just 2.2% of three-plus-bedroom home stock. In comparison, millennials own 23.7% of this inventory, while Gen Xers (31.2%), and baby boomers (35.3%) each claim roughly one-third.
Thanks to rising costs and limited inventory, owning any kind of home—let alone a large one—is increasingly elusive for many young Americans. However, there are a handful of metros around the country where young adults have been able to snag a minor—but measurable—share of homes with three-plus-bedrooms in recent years.
These metros are mostly small(er) and mostly landlocked. Case in point: Salt Lake City leads our list of the 15 metros where Gen Zers own the highest share of three-plus-bedroom homes, while Virginia Beach, VA, Oklahoma City, OK, Louisville, KY, and Indianapolis round out the top five.
This is according to a Redfin analysis of U.S. Census data from 2024 (the most recent year for which data is available) that breaks down the share of homes owned and occupied by each generation by bedroom size. Rankings were pulled from a list of the 50 most populous U.S. metros. See the end of this report for more details on methodology.
Gen Zers Own Nearly 4% of Large Homes in Salt Lake City, More Than Any Other Major Metro
Adult Gen Zers own 3.6% of Salt Lake City’s three-plus-bedroom homes. That figure is over half a percentage point higher than the metro where the young generation owns the next-largest share (3%) of three-plus-bedroom stock—Virginia Beach, VA.
So what makes the Utah capital so accessible for young buyers looking for lots of space?
According to Kristina Gross, a Redfin senior agent based in Salt Lake City, the answer has a lot to do with the area’s unique demographics.
“We see a high share of young buyers who are from dual-income households—couples or young families or soon-to-be families—which stretches their purchasing power,” said Gross. “Many Gen Zers here also have strong family support. It’s common to see gifted down payments or multi-generational financial help that accelerates their ability to buy sooner or buy bigger.”
(In a Nov. 2025 Redfin survey of approximately 2,200 recent homebuyers conducted by Ipsos, 26% of young homebuyers* said they made their down payment, in part, due to family money—defined as a cash gift from family member(s) or an inheritance—significantly higher than the share of all homebuyers (20%) who said the same.)
Environmental and economic factors are at play in Salt Lake City, too.
The Utah metro has ample developable land, which, Gross said, makes new large-home construction more abundant and more affordable than in other areas around the country. Gross added that Salt Lake City boasts a “uniquely strong pipeline” of jobs in technology, healthcare and engineering, often translating to “higher-paying early-career roles.”
When It Comes to Gen Z Large-Homeownership, Midsized Metros Lead the Way
Several midsized metros—including Oklahoma City, OK, Louisville, KY, Cincinnati, Kansas City, MO, and Birmingham, AL—also appeared on our top 15 list. All of these happen to be among a handful of metros nationwide where the typical household still makes enough money to comfortably afford a home—a factor that local Redfin agents routinely pointed to when asked why young buyers had above-average access to large properties in these areas.
“Birmingham showing up on those lists doesn’t surprise me at all. One of the biggest drivers here is affordability relative to other metros,” said senior agent Jennifer Hoelsher. “Buyers can still purchase homes with significantly more square footage for the same—or lower—price than what they’d pay in larger cities. That makes three and four bedroom homes much more attainable early on.”
Louisville senior agent Suha Matthews echoed a similar sentiment: “It’s all about affordability, affordability, affordability. The type of property you get for your money in Louisville stretches a long way.”
Many of Matthews’ recent clients have been young singles or couples who work remotely and are looking for lots of space; they want “at least one room as a designated office while having options to turn additional rooms into guest bedrooms or flex space,” she said.
Room to Grow: Gen Z’ s Path to More Large-Homeownership
Overall Gen Z homeownership figures are improving slightly; more than one-quarter (27.1%) of the cohort nationwide owned their home in 2025, up from 26.1% a year earlier. The share of large homes owned by Gen Zers nationally (2.2%) lags far behind that of millennials (23.7%), Gen Xers (31.2%), and baby boomers (35.3%)—though much of this is due to life stage.
Still, Zoomers’ prospects for future share gain of large homes remain somewhat complicated, especially as many empty-nest baby boomers aren’t letting go of their own three-plus-bedroom properties.
“Young adults today have to choose between living somewhere they can buy a large single-family home versus living somewhere that will set them up for high lifetime earnings, because the places that have the best job opportunities, like the Bay Area and New York City, have some of the least affordable housing,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. “However, there is some middle ground. Gen Zers that live in Washington, D.C., for example, have access to high-paying careers and starter homes in multifamily buildings.”
Methodology
This analysis is based on a Redfin analysis of U.S. Census data from 2024 (the most recent year for which data is available) that breaks down the share of homes owned and occupied by each generation by bedroom size.
Adult Gen Zers were 19-27 years old in 2024, millennials were 28-43, Gen Xers were 44-59, and baby boomers were 60-78.
ACS data was retrieved from IPUMS USA
Steven Ruggles, Sarah Flood, Matthew Sobek, Daniel Backman, Grace Cooper, Julia A. Rivera Drew, Stephanie Richards, Renae Rogers, Jonathan Schroeder, and Kari C.W. Williams. IPUMS USA: Version 16.0 [dataset]. Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS, 2025.
*In the Nov. 2025 Redfin survey conducted by Ipsos, young homebuyers was defined as Gen Z or millennials who own their home.
