The empty nest is officially filling back up across the United States.
Millions of young adults are delaying independent living as high housing costs keep them under their parents' roofs. In 2025, an astonishing 25.2 million adults under the age of 35 lived with a parent, according to new data released by Realtor.com. This massive figure represents roughly one in three people within that specific demographic.
The data highlights a highly restrictive housing market that remains incredibly difficult to break into, even for young adults who are gainfully employed and hold college degrees.
"The adults living with their parents today are largely employed, and many hold college degrees," Hannah Jones, senior economist at Realtor.com, said in a statement. "What's holding them back isn't a lack of qualifications, but rather, at least in part, a lack of housing they can actually afford. This is a supply story, not an employment story."
This severe supply problem has been compounding for years. The United States is currently facing a shortage of roughly 4 million homes, with affordable, entry-level starter properties being particularly scarce. The supply gap has widened significantly since residential construction slowed down following the 2008 financial crisis.
Despite the common misconception that young adults living at home are unmotivated, about 70% of 25- to 34-year-olds living with their parents are actively employed. In 2000, only about one in nine employed adults in their late 20s lived at home. By 2025, that share climbed to nearly one in seven.
For the modern generation, moving out has simply become financially unrealistic. The national median home listing price currently sits at $430,000, representing a staggering 34.4% increase since 2019. Over the same period, the median asking rent has climbed 17.9% to $1,673 per month.
This delayed transition to independent living is creating a massive wave of latent housing demand that has yet to be absorbed by the market. As affordability eventually improves or builder supply increases, millions of young buyers could rush into the market at once.
"Twenty-five million adults living with their parents represents a generation of latent demand the market hasn't absorbed," Jones explained. "Every adult still in a childhood bedroom is a household not formed, a lease unsigned, a starter home unpurchased. The typical first-time buyer is now 40 — that's not a coincidence, it's the math of a market that hasn't built enough."
The long-term economic consequences of this delay are severe. Every year a young adult spends living at home is a year they lose out on building crucial home equity—the primary driver of generational wealth in America.
Unfortunately, the long-term outlook remains grim. According to new projections from National Association of Realtors (NAR) Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, the national median home price is on track to hit a staggering $1 million by 2050, arriving just as the millennial generation reaches traditional retirement age.
"Essentially, in about 25 years the national median home price will be a million dollars," Yun warned at a recent conference in Washington, D.C. "It may be hard to envision that, but back in 1990, the national median price was $90,000."