More than 110,000 of Sacramento’s young adults live with parents. Here’s how that’s changed

A growing number of the Sacramento region’s young adults are finding it difficult to leave their childhood homes.

The number of Sacramento-area residents ages 23-35 who live with a parent or grandparent rose by about 30,000, or almost 40%, from 2011 through 2021, according to a Bee review of the latest U.S. Census Bureau data.

There are several likely reasons for the trend, many of them economic. Typical rents have jumped in Sacramento during the last decade, pricing many young adults out of an apartment. Rising home prices and mortgage rates have made buying a home more difficult. Median incomes among young adults have remained relatively flat. Student debt has skyrocketed.

All told, about 27% of Sacramento-area residents ages 23-35 lived with a parent or grandparent in 2021, compared to 12% in 2000 and 6% in 1970, according to the data, which is hosted by the IPUMS project at the Minnesota Population Center.

Most young adults living with their parents or grandparents don’t work jobs that pay enough to afford rent. About 34% of Sacramento-area young adults with annual earnings of $35,000 or less lived with their parents, compared to 14% of young adults earning more than that, according to census data covering the five years from 2017 through 2021.

Young adult men were more likely to live with parents than young adult women.

About 31% of Black Sacramento-area young adults lived with parents or grandparents, compared to 27% of Asian young adults, 26% of Hispanic young adults and 24% of white young adults.

The trend of young adults living with parents or grandparents is not unique to Sacramento. An even higher proportion of young adults in much the Central Valley and Southern California live with their parents or grandparents.

This story was originally published April 17, 2023 at 6:00 AM.