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While Beyoncé's smash hit "Single Ladies" highlighted the importance of women's independence, a new LendingTree study revealed that although they make less in earnings, single women now own more homes than single men throughout the U.S.
While women typically lag behind men in pay, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women’s median weekly earnings in the U.S. are only 83% of men’s.
Although women are historically less well-off financially than men, there is, in fact, a primary area in which women are likely to fare better than men: homeownership.
A LendingTree analysis of the latest U.S. Census Bureau data revealed that single women who live by themselves are more likely than single men who live by themselves to own a home in 47 of the 50 states.
The study also found that single women own a whopping 2.71 million more homes than single men.
The state with the largest share of single-women homeowners:
Delaware—The Diamond State
- Owner-occupied households: 298,861
- Households owned and occupied by single women: 15.34%
- Households owned and occupied by single men: 9.45%
- Gender gap between single homeowners: 5.89 percentage points
The state with the largest share of single-men homeowners:
New Mexico—the Land of Enchantment
- Owner-occupied households: 604,224
- Households owned and occupied by single women: 14.49%
- Households owned and occupied by single men: 12.85%
- Gender gap between single homeowners: 1.64 percentage points
Top 10 states with the largest share of single-women homeowners:
- Delaware
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Alabama
- Florida
- New Mexico
- South Carolina
- West Virginia
- Maryland
- Illinois
Top 10 states with the largest share of single-men homeowners:
- New Mexico
- North Dakota
- Alaska
- South Dakota
- Wyoming
- West Virginia
- Montana
- Michigan
- Iowa
- Ohio
Top 10 states with the widest gender gap in homeownership rates between single homeowners are:
- Delaware (Difference between share of homes owned and occupied by single women and single men by percentage points: 5.89)
- Maryland (5.21)
- Massachusetts (4.97)
- New Jersey (4.71)
- Louisiana (4.48)
- North Carolina (4.46)
- Florida (4.44)
- Alabama (4.25)
- New York (4.24)
- Virginia (4.21)
Across the U.S., single women own 2.71 million more homes than single men.
Single women own 10.95 million homes, while single men own 8.24 million. Put another way, single women own an average of 12.93% of the owner-occupied homes across the 50 states, versus 10.22% among single men.
The homeownership gender gap has increased slightly since 2021.
Single women owned 10.76 million homes across the U.S. in 2021, while men owned 8.12 million—a difference of 2.64 million. This means that the 2022 gap of 2.71 million is 70,000 homes higher than in 2021.
Delaware, with the highest share of homes owned by single women, has the largest homeownership gap.
Some 15.34% of owner-occupied households in the state are owned by single women—5.89 percentage points higher than the share of homes owned by single men.
After Delaware, Louisiana, and Mississippi have the highest single-women homeownership rates.
In the two states, 15.19% and 14.84% of owner-occupied households are owned by women who live by themselves. For comparison, single men own 10.71% and 10.85% of owner-occupied households in the same states.
The homeownership rate is highest among single men in New Mexico, North Dakota, and Alaska.
In these states, single men own 12.85%, 12.74%, and 12.44% of all owner-occupied housing units.
Alaska, North Dakota, and South Dakota are the only states where single men own a higher share of homes than single women.
In Alaska, the share of homes owned and occupied by single men is 2.16 percentage points higher than the share of homes owned by single women. In North Dakota and South Dakota, the differences are 2.08 percentage points and 0.68 percentage points.
To read the full report, including more data, charts, tips, and methodology, click here.
