Minneapolis Fed

The measure that we traditionally think of as the homeownership rate in the United States is actually the owner-occupancy rate, or the share of occupied housing units where the owner is a resident. As an alternative, we offer the homeowners-to-population ratio, or HPOP, a measure that better reflects the actual rate of homeownership.

The HPOP answers the question: What share of the adult population owns their home? While the owner-occupancy rate and the HPOP are tightly linked, they have important differences driven by accounting for adults who live in owner-occupied units but do not own them, household size across rental and owner-occupied units, and the inclusion of adults living in group quarters.