Owner-Occupied Housing
Housing units in a ZIP code where the occupant owns the property, as distinguished from renter-occupied units, expressed as a count or percentage.
The homeownership rate — the percentage of occupied housing units that are owner-occupied — is a key socioeconomic indicator at the ZIP code level. Nationally, the homeownership rate hovers around 65%, but it varies dramatically by ZIP code: from under 10% in dense urban rental markets (parts of Manhattan, downtown Chicago) to over 95% in established suburban and rural communities.
The Census Bureau's ACS provides detailed breakdowns of owner-occupied housing characteristics including mortgage status, home value, monthly housing costs, and year the structure was built.
Homeownership rates at the ZIP level are used by mortgage lenders for market analysis, by retailers for customer profiling (homeowners buy different products than renters), by political campaigns for voter targeting, and by community development organizations to identify underserved areas.