Homeownership varies by job type — but affordability still a factor 

Job type is a key factor in homeownership rates across the country — and in many markets, conditions have changed over the past decade.

Nadia Evangelou, director of real estate research at the National Association of Realtors, wrote in a recent NAR report that in more than 60% of metro areas, the occupations with the highest homeownership rates were different in 2024 — the most recent year for which U.S. Census Bureau data is available — than a decade earlier.

Occupations with the largest shifts

On the national level, one of the biggest homeownership rate gains has occurred among service occupations, which include hospitality workers and food service employees.

Homeownership rates for these groups climbed from 42.7% in 2014 to 45.5% in 2024, though "these workers still have the lowest homeownership rate in the country," the report noted. Communities with the biggest increases for service workers — like Ogden, Utah, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania — tend to be areas that were more affordable than the national average.

Other occupations that have seen a steady climb in homeownership include real estate professionals and people who work in sales, with the rate for these groups rising from 60.8% in 2014 to 63.3%.

While still holding the highest overall homeownership rate at 72.2% in 2024, people in management jobs have seen a slight decline in the past decade, as have people in tech, an occupation group with a rate of 67.2%. Teachers and social service professionals had the second-highest rate of 67.3%.

Salary, job stability play important roles

The report also cited several examples of changes that have taken place at the community level. In Ann Arbor, Michigan, for example, business professionals and people working in management had the highest homeownership rates in 2024, surpassing skilled trade workers. Meanwhile, education and social services jobs have replaced healthcare workers at the top of the list in Columbus, Georgia.

"Some jobs make it easier to become a homeowner than others. Higher salaries can help, but so can job stability along with where those jobs are located," Evangelou wrote in the report, which features an interactive map showing metro-level shifts.

Overall homeownership rates have undergone swings in recent years, hitting a low of 62.9% in the second quarter of 2016 before jumping to 67.9% four years later. The national rate had fallen to 65.7% by the end of 2025, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Affordability also closely linked

Changes at the metro level reflect affordability, Evangelou noted.

Metro areas with strong homeownership rates — particularly in the Midwest and South — tend to be relatively affordable. "What many of these metros have in common is that home prices remain more closely aligned with local incomes, allowing people across a variety of occupations — from teachers to construction workers — to become homeowners," Evangelou wrote.

She elaborated in an email to Real Estate News, noting that higher mobility markets are often more expensive and thus have lower homeownership rates. "So it's less about how often people change jobs and more about affordability and whether their job allows flexibility, like remote work," she said.

There are other factors to consider, however. For example, while skilled trades and construction jobs generally pay well, these occupations typically have lower homeownership rates because the workers tend to be younger than the median first-time buyer.

"But the location matters as well," Evangelou added. "In more affordable markets, homeownership among skilled trades is actually strong. But in high-cost metros — like San Francisco and New York metros — it drops significantly because affordability is a challenge for everyone."

The big takeaway for agents

As affordability slowly starts improving in today's persistently sluggish housing market, geography matters more than ever.

"Jobs in more affordable areas or markets with remote flexibility will see stronger homeownership gains," Evangelou said. "As affordability improves, we'll see more buyers from groups that have been priced out."