As reported recently in The Columbian, 12 percent of adults ages 25-34 in the Vancouver-Portland area are living with their parents.

The reasons are varied, as are the impacts. But the trend, which experts say is growing in many regions of the United States, reflect interesting economic and social changes.

For generations, the idea of young adults moving out, becoming economically independent and starting their own families has been part of the traditional American dream. But as Joanne Hsu, a University of Michigan associate professor, said: “It’s taking a little bit longer for young adults to reach those markers of adulthood … getting married, having kids, buying their first house and things like that. That is definitely being influenced by an escalation in the cost of higher ed, as well as the cost of housing.”

Nationally, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of federal data, 18 percent of adults between 25 and 34 live in a parent’s home. Young men (20 percent) are more likely than young women (15 percent), and the numbers vary sharply by region.

For three metro areas in California — Vallejo, the region surrounding Oxnard, and El Centro — roughly one-third of 25- to 34-year-olds live at home. Other areas — including Lincoln, Neb., and Ithaca, N.Y., have rates as low as 3 percent.

Analysts say housing costs are the biggest factor in the Northwest for keeping adults at home. “With population growth and housing continuing to be unaffordable here, I think the chances of this going up are high,” said Mike Wilkerson of consulting firm ECOnorthwest. Debt from student loans or other expenditures, a lack of entry-level jobs, lingering effects from the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors also contribute.

According to a 2025 report from the National Association of Realtors, the average age of first-time homebuyers has skyrocketed to 38. In 1990, the average age was 28; as recently as 2020, the average was 33 years old. And in just the past year, first-time homebuyers as a share of the market has fallen from 32 percent to 24 percent.

That is a lot of numbers, but the gist is this: Housing shortages — particularly in the West and the Northeast — have led to sharp increases in home prices, pushing many would-be buyers out of the market. In a competitive industry, equity can make all the difference, leaving many newcomers to live with parents in an attempt to save money.

All of this information provides a snapshot of the economy. It also is a reminder that there can be significant social benefits to multigenerational housing; for most of human existence, after all, it has been common for grandparents, parents and children to share a roof.

The growth of the United States’ middle class, a longtime abundance of housing and our nation’s inherent desire for individual independence made such households seem un-American during the mid-1900s. But from 1971 to 2021, the number of U.S. households with three or more generations quadrupled, according to the Census Bureau.

Because of all that, the rate of young adults living with their parents is not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing for American society. But the hope is that those adults will have the same options their parents had to define their own futures.