You Go, Girl!

(1/16/24)  It’s no secret that women earn less than men. A Pew Research Center analysis released on March 1, 2023 found that the gender gap in pay has remained relatively stable in the United States over the past 20 years, with women earning an average of 82% of what men earned in 2022.

Despite the difference in pay, however, a new analysis by LendingTree found that single women are more likely than single men to own a home in 47 of 50 states. Single women own 10.95 million homes, while single men own 8.24 million, according to LendingTree. That means that single women own an average of 12.93% of the owner-occupied homes across the 50 states, compared to 10.22% among single men.

"Surprising as it might initially seem, the data is clear -- women who live by themselves are more likely to be homeowners than men in almost all of the nation’s 50 states,” said Jacob Channel, LendingTree's senior economist. “While some may attribute the higher homeownership rate among single women solely to things like divorce, it is important to keep in mind that the reasons why women are more likely to own homes than men are various and complex. Moreover, women’s higher homeownership rates do not discount other, oftentimes disproportionate, economic struggles that women face."

The LendingTree report discusses several factors that could lead to the higher ownership rate among single women, in addition to divorce. First, there’s evidence that single women are more willing to make sacrifices to become homeowners. Also, women earn at least as much as men in many cities. Last, since women live longer, in some cases women owners purchased their home with their deceased spouse but outlived him.

Delaware, where 15.34% of owner-occupied homes are owned by single women, has the highest share of homes owned by single women. After Delaware, Louisiana and Mississippi have the highest single-women homeownership rates.

The only states where single men own a higher share of homes than single women are Alaska, North Dakota and South Dakota.