LGBTQ+ Homeowners Stretch Smaller Homes to Fit Parents, Pets and Renters – Zillow Research
**LGBTQ+ homeowners trend younger, more urban, more likely to live in smaller homes and more likely to share those homes with others than their heterosexual/cisgender peers.
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LGBTQ+ homeowners are more likely to live in smaller homes with fewer bedrooms and square footage — and also more likely to share that space with others, including renters, parents and/or pets.
LGBTQ+ homeowners also trend younger and more urban than their cisgender, heterosexual counterparts, and appear more likely to be in the midst of improving, trying to realize savings on or generate income from their homes, according to data from the 2021 Zillow Group Consumer Housing Trends Report. The findings help shed light both on some of the potential drivers of inequality between the LGBTQ+ community and others, and how the LGBTQ+ community is overcoming barriers to homeownership.
The median age for LGBTQ+ homeowners is 44 — a decade and a half younger than 59 for cisgender, heterosexual homeowners. And more than a quarter (28%) of LGBTQ+ homeowners consider the area where they live urban, compared to 20% of cisgender/heterosexual homeowners. The facts that LGBTQ+ homeowners trend both younger and more urban than their peers may help explain many of the differences between the two groups. LGBTQ+ homeowners may disproportionately feel the affordability challenges of living in often pricier urban markets, and because they’re collectively younger are also potentially more likely to be on the struggling end of a historically large intergenerational wealth gap.
| LGBTQ+ Homeowners | Cisgender/Heterosexual Homeowners | |
| Median Age | 44 | 59 |
| Share living in urban areas | 28% | 20% |
| Share living in rowhouse, townhouse, duplex, triplex, condo or co-op | 20% | 12% |
| Share living in a home <1,000 square feet | 18% | 10% |
| Share planning or completing a home renovation | 43% | 19% |
| Share currently renting out a part of their home | 15% | 4% |
LGBTQ+ homeowners are more likely to report living in a townhouse, rowhouse, duplex, triplex, condo or co-op (20% of LGBTQ+ homeowners report living in one of these home types, compared to 12% of cisgender/heterosexual homeowners). These housing options are generally more common in urban areas, and are also often more affordable than other housing types — potentially offering aspiring LGBTQ+ homeowners a more affordable option in their preferred locales.
But condos and townhomes also tend to be smaller: Consistent with their tendency to both live in these types of homes and to live in more urban areas, LGBTQ+ homeowners are also more likely to report living in a somewhat cozier home. Almost on-in-five (18%) of LGBTQ+ homeowners report living in a home that is smaller than 1,000 square feet, compared to 10% of cisgender, heterosexual homeowners. And one in four (25%) LGBTQ homeowners reports living in a home with 2 bedrooms or fewer, compared to approximately one in five (19%) cisgender/heterosexual homeowners.
Previous Zillow research finds that areas monopolized by single, detached houses skew whiter and more racially segregated. This analysis of LGBTQ+ homeowners (as well as previous research on LGBTQ+ buyers) suggests that areas monopolized by freestanding, individual homes may also be more likely to exclude LGBTQ+ aspiring homeowners.
Among homeowners who have not listed their homes for sale, LGBTQ+ homeowners are more likely to cite planning or completing a home renovation (43% of LGBTQ+, compared to 19% of cisgender, heterosexual homeowners) or a recent refinance (31% of LGBTQ+, versus 11% of cisgender/heterosexual) as a reason for not listing. Both reasons reveal a commonality that LGBTQ+ homeowners have with younger homeowners: They’re more likely to be working on and/or seeking savings/earnings from their home.
Despite their slightly higher likelihood of living in a smaller home, LGBTQ+ homeowners are almost twice as likely to report housing their parents, and having dogs (57% of LGBTQ+ versus 49% of cisgender/heterosexual) and cats (43% of LGBTQ+ versus 33% of cisgender/heterosexual). And beyond their parents and pets, LGBTQ+ homeowners are about 3 times more likely to report that they are currently renting out a part of their home (15% of LGBTQ+ homeowners, compared to 4% of cisgender, heterosexual) and even more likely to say they plan to rent out part of their home within the next three years (36% of LGBTQ+ homeowners, compared to 11% among cisgender/heterosexual).
Methodology
To produce estimates on LGBTQ+ homeowners, and comparisons to their cisgender, heterosexual counterparts, Zillow Group Population Science used Consumer Housing Trends Report data on homeowners, from 2019 to 2021. Homeowners are defined as household decision makers that own their primary residence and did not move in the past year. LGBTQ+ homeowners are those who identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, gender non-conforming/non-binary, intersex, or with another sexual orientation (other than straight) or gender identity (e.g. gender fluid, gender queer, gender neutral). Consumer Housing Trends Report data for 2019 and 2020 were collected by market research firm YouGov, while data for 2021 was collected by ZG Population Science.
To achieve national representativeness, quotas for age, education, sex, region, race/ethnicity, and marital status limited oversampling of any given demographic group. In addition to quotas, ZG Population Science and YouGov used survey weighting to sample characteristics matched the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2017-2019 samples of homeowners.