What Do Americans Spend on Housing?

Another respondent is a 45-year-old pursuing a master’s program in Seoul, while her husband is an immigrant living in the US. “I’ve been too scared to return there because of ICE and immigration stuff—it’s way too risky, and neither of us want to be responsible for being vanished.”

The Resident Who’s Bunking Down With Extended Family

Across the US, just under 5 percent of owner-occupied households span three or more generations. The number may sound modest, but according to data published in May by Realtor.com, demand for multigenerational homes is strong: Listings that included terms such as “granny flat” or “guest house” received more views and were priced higher (at an average of 22 percent more per square foot) than standard homes.

Multigenerational households were well represented in WIRED’s dataset, with respondents wanting to save money or help out aging parents. A 45-year-old from Oakley, California, is “living with relatives to avoid being homeless.” A 23-year-old from Decatur, Georgia, noted, “Any place I could afford at this point would be a downgrade compared to the experience I have staying with my parents.”

A retired 65-year-old from Columbia, Missouri, volunteered that her parents, now 91, moved in during Covid. Despite a lack of privacy, she wrote, “It’s been good! We don’t have any extra space, so we can’t accumulate stuff, but we have all we need.” It’s not just the elderly moving in—a 38-year-old in Huntsville, Alabama, is preparing to sell her home to move back in with her parents.

With home sales trends remaining bleak, it’s no wonder that multigenerational living is common. According to an April 2026 report by the National Association of Realtors, only about one in five purchasers were first-time buyers—the lowest level on record.

The Resident Who Loves Their Offbeat Situation

Some respondents came up with inventive solutions to the housing crunch. A 47-year-old did so by building a 8- by 24-foot abode out of cold-formed steel on a giant plot of land where a Victorian had been torn down. “What would have been space to heat and cool is now a large amazing yard,” she wrote. A 68-year-old in Branchport, New York, lives in a one-bedroom log house with many animals: “I love living in the country, and having animals and large gardens.”

Another respondent—a 55-year-old in Santa Cruz, California—described the home she bought in 1998 as “a ramshackle dump.” But, she wrote, “We’ve spent our lives upgrading our home’s inside and outside spaces, making our once ugliest home on the block to the most beautiful,” a place surrounded by redwood trees and a mile from the Pacific Ocean.

Then there’s the maritime crowd. One 77-year-old who loves off-the-grid living has spent much of the last year on a sailboat. In Sausalito, California, an 84-year-old who “fell in love with living on a houseboat” noted that while onboard life is not easy for the elderly, she hoped to stay as long as she can. “I have everything I need and want here,” she wrote.