Why So Many Young Adults Are Moving Back Home, and Why New Jersey Is Leading the Pack
If you thought this might finally be the year your New Jersey kid stopped living in your basement, grinding through Call of Duty campaigns like it is their full-time union job, think again. The latest ACS data confirms your home is basically the hottest rental on the East Coast. The basement has free WiFi, Mom’s laundry servgie, and dinner magically appears at the dining room every night. Between the Xbox sessions and their seventh Sopranos rewatch, you are one bunk bed project away from starring in your own Step Brothers reboot.
Welcome to the Boomerang Generation 2.0, powered by high housing costs, stalled wages, and the undeniable allure of having someone else pay for toilet paper.
The Big Picture: Young Adults Are Moving Back Home Nationwide
The share of adults ages 18 to 34 living with their parents climbed to 32.5 percent in 2024. That number was 31.8 percent in 2023, so things are drifting back upward after post-pandemic independence gave everyone false hope.
The good news, if you want to call it that, is this percentage is still below the pre-pandemic peak of 34.5 percent in 2017. The bad news is clear. Housing costs are sending young people back to childhood bedrooms with blue carpeting, glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling, and possibly a dusty participation trophy or two. According to Hotpads, for the Bergen County, NJ region (the broader North Jersey area), a ond bedroom apartment averages $2,289/month.
Guess Who Leads the Country: New Jersey, of Course
New Jersey continues its reign as the unofficial national home of adult children still living with their parents. More than 44 percent of young adults here still live at home. That is nearly half. That means when you walk into a random house party in New Jersey, there is a statistically high chance the house actually belongs to the host’s parents.
Connecticut trails behind with 41 percent. California and Maryland round out the top tier with 39 percent and 38 percent.
If expensive states were a club, New Jersey would be the president sitting at the head of the table saying, “Yeah, it costs that much. What of it.”
Meanwhile, North Dakota Is Out Here Living a Different Life
At the opposite end, states like North Dakota are practically a different planet. Only 12 percent of young adults there live with their parents. Apparently, it is still possible to rent an apartment without sacrificing a kidney or a firstborn.
South Dakota clocks in at 18 percent, and the District of Columbia registers less than 13 percent, thanks to a surprisingly stable job market in 2024.
In these places, twenty-somethings are out there signing leases, decorating their apartments, and living the kind of life people in New Jersey can only dream about while stuck in Parkway traffic.
The Affordability Connection Is Not Exactly Shocking
Here is the not-so-stunning revelation. States with brutal rental markets are the same states where adult kids are setting up camp in their parents’ basements.
The ACS data confirms what you already know. When renters are paying 30 percent or more of their income on housing, independence becomes a luxury item.
Housing affordability is not just nudging young adults back home. It is practically throwing them into the door with their laundry and Instacart deliveries.
A Deeper Dive Is Coming
The ACS summary data does not separate 18 to 24 year-olds from the 25 to 34 crowd. Once the ACS microdata becomes available, it will be worth seeing how the groups differ. Are more college-age adults staying put because tuition is high and housing is worse? Or are late-twenties professionals getting squeezed out of the market by high rents, student loan payments, and the privilege of paying $6 for a cold brew?
Stay tuned. Data nerds everywhere are waiting.
What This Means for New Jersey
If you are wondering whether this trend will continue in the Garden State, the answer is simple. Unless rents drop or starter homes magically become affordable again, parents should probably prepare for long-term roommates who eat their snacks, use their streaming logins, and claim they are saving money for “the right moment.”
This is also a reminder that high housing costs are pushing New Jersey residents, both young and old, to rethink life here. Some are staying and adjusting. Others are browsing Zillow listings in Florida at 2 a.m., maybe with a margarita in hand.
Either way, the affordability crisis is changing the way families live.
Thinking of Leaving New Jersey? Or Helping Your Adult Kids Flee?
EscapeFromNewJersey.com exists for exactly this reason. Whether you are dreaming of cheaper housing, warmer weather, or simply fewer people eating your groceries, there are better options out there.
If you are ready to compare your cost of living here to almost anywhere else in the country, I can help you take the next step.
Reach out, explore relocation guides, and learn how other New Jersey families are finally making their escape.
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