A record 25.2 million young adults are living with their parents. The golden age.

Realtor.com says a record 25.2 million Americans under 35 lived with their parents in 2025. That’s roughly one in three, or about 32% using your estimate of 78 million adults ages 18–35. And these aren’t all unemployed college graduates hiding from the job market. Around 70% of those aged 25–34 who live at home have jobs. They’re working, but apparently earning enough to pay the bills doesn’t necessarily mean earning enough to move out.

The housing numbers help explain it. Realtor.com puts the median home listing price at $430,000, up 34% from 2019, while median asking rent has climbed nearly 18%. The report estimates that nearly 4.9 million fewer young adults would be living with their parents if the co-residence rates of the early 2000s had continued.

A generation ago, moving out was part of becoming an adult. Now millions of people are employed, educated and still living in their childhood bedrooms because the math doesn’t work. The golden age, indeed.

https://www.realtor.com/research/adults-living-with-parents-june-26/

https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/young-adults-living-with-parents-employed-housing-costs/