U.S. Census Bureau Finds Nearly 40% of Homeowners Mortgage-Free

(Image courtesy of Lisa Anna/pexels.com)

The U.S. Census Bureau released a new report finding that the percentage of U.S. owner-occupied homes owned free and clear rose to 39.4% in 2020-2024.

That’s an increase from 34.4% in the 2010-2014 period, per the bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates.

However, the share of homes without a mortgage varied by state. The lowest share was in Washington, D.C., at 24.3%, followed by Maryland at 29%. Colorado, Utah and California rounded out the bottom five.

More than half–53.9%–of homes in West Virginia were owned free and clear. Next was Mississippi, followed by New Mexico, Louisiana and North Dakota.

However, the share of homes without a mortgage increased from 2014 in every state and D.C.

Rural areas were generally more likely than urban counties to have high rates of mortgage-free homeowners. Per the report, 493 counties–many in or near large metro areas in Southern California and the East Coast–had shares of mortgage-free homes below the 40% average.

Metropolitan counties in Southern states generally saw the greatest growth in mortgage-free ownership. For example, in Chattahoochee County, Ga., the share of homeowners without a mortgage grew by 18.9 percentage points to 69% from 2014 to 2024. Edmonson County, Ky., saw growth of 17.4 percentage points to 60.5% over the period. In the West, Torrance County, N.M., saw growth of 17.2 percentage points to 60% mortgage-free homeownership.