Homeownership by Gender

Definition

Ratio of the homeownership rate of single male-headed households to single female-headed households, 2011.

Calculated by dividing the higher value by the lower value, i.e., single female-headed households divided by single male-headed households for 28 states and single male-headed households divided by single female-headed households in the remaining 23 states.

A ratio of 1 indicates perfect equality; the higher the ratio, the greater the inequality. For example, the homeownership rate of single female-headed households in Utah is 1.1 times higher than for single male-headed households.

States are not ranked on this measure because there is too little variation in the data for the states to provide meaningful rankings. For more information on our ranking methodology, see here.

Description

This measure describes the disparity in homeownership rates between single male- and single female-headed households. The Scorecard compares single households in gender comparisons rather than all male- and female-headed households to disentangle issues of gender from marital status. Nationally, the gap in homeownership between single men and women is relatively small, with homeownership rates only one percent higher for women then men. Single women have slightly higher rates of homeownership in 28 states.

The Scorecard compares single households in gender comparisons rather than all male- and female-headed households to disentangle issues of gender from marital status.

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Homeownership by Gender

State	Homeownership Rate, Single Male-Headed Households (%)	Homeownership Rate, Single Female-Headed Households (%)	Ratio
United States	50.4%	51.1%	1.01
Alabama	58.4%	56.0%	1.04
Alaska	55.8%	49.4%	1.13
Arizona	50.8%	53.0%	1.04
Arkansas	53.3%	53.0%	1.01
California	41.0%	44.7%	1.09
Colorado	49.9%	52.2%	1.04
Connecticut	51.4%	50.3%	1.02
Delaware	65.8%	59.9%	1.10
District of Columbia	31.9%	35.1%	1.10
Florida	54.4%	57.3%	1.05
Georgia	51.0%	51.6%	1.01
Hawaii	46.6%	48.4%	1.04
Idaho	52.4%	55.4%	1.06
Illinois	52.5%	52.9%	1.01
Indiana	55.9%	53.5%	1.05
Iowa	56.5%	57.0%	1.01
Kansas	50.1%	54.0%	1.08
Kentucky	56.9%	54.1%	1.05
Louisiana	54.5%	53.2%	1.02
Maine	54.9%	53.3%	1.03
Maryland	55.2%	54.3%	1.02
Massachusetts	47.6%	46.3%	1.03
Michigan	60.1%	57.0%	1.05
Minnesota	58.0%	56.4%	1.03
Mississippi	58.5%	57.6%	1.02
Missouri	52.4%	52.6%	1.00
Montana	52.4%	55.6%	1.06
Nebraska	51.8%	51.4%	1.01
Nevada	43.2%	46.9%	1.09
New Hampshire	54.7%	55.3%	1.01
New Jersey	47.1%	50.9%	1.08
New Mexico	56.5%	57.8%	1.02
New York	39.4%	39.5%	1.00
North Carolina	53.1%	52.3%	1.02
North Dakota	54.4%	48.9%	1.11
Ohio	51.9%	51.3%	1.01
Oklahoma	53.6%	54.9%	1.02
Oregon	44.5%	48.5%	1.09
Pennsylvania	55.2%	53.8%	1.03
Rhode Island	43.1%	44.9%	1.04
South Carolina	56.1%	55.9%	1.00
South Dakota	55.4%	50.6%	1.10
Tennessee	53.5%	53.5%	1.00
Texas	47.0%	49.4%	1.05
Utah	52.2%	57.3%	1.10
Vermont	64.1%	60.6%	1.06
Virginia	54.2%	54.6%	1.01
Washington	46.2%	49.4%	1.07
West Virginia	57.4%	60.9%	1.06
Wisconsin	52.6%	49.1%	1.07
Wyoming	55.1%	58.4%	1.06

Source

2011 American Community Survey. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, 2012.