How Common are Multigenerational Households in the U.S.?

A large percentage of the US population lives in multigenerational households, meaning they live with three or more generations under one roof. Where are people most likely to live with older and younger generations? What are the demographics of these families? Here’s what the data says about these dynamics.  

• In 2022, about 8.1% of the US population lived in multigenerational households. That’s 4.8 million households with 26 million people. 
• Up to 19.9% of all Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander households were multigenerational, the most of any racial demographic subset. American Indian/Alaska Native families followed (14.9% of the population), then Asian (13.5%), and Hispanic (13.2%) households. Five percent of white households had three or more generations under one roof.
• In 2020, Hawaii had the highest rate of multigenerational households of any state at 9.1%, followed by California at 7.3%. 
• Looking at the data by county tells a different story. Twenty-four percent of households in South Dakota’s Oglala Lakota County had three or more generations, the most in the nation. Five of the top 10 counties were in South Dakota, and three were in Alaska.  
• In 2022, 12.9% of adults older than 25 without high school degrees lived in multigenerational housing, as did 8.5% of people who had completed high school. Comparatively, this was true for 5.0% of people with associate or bachelor’s degrees. 

Learn more about who lives under one roof in this article.