Mapped: Where NYC Homeowners Are Most Likely to Be Married

In a city defined by renting, New Yorkers are less likely to be homeowners than the national average. But for those who do own, a new analysis breaks down their relationship status and household characteristics.

The analysis of Census Bureau data from real estate data firm PropertyShark found that married couples make up the majority of homeowners in every borough except Manhattan.

NYC's overall homeownership rate is just 33%, far below the U.S. national average of 65%, likely because of the sky-high prices the city's real estate demands. The median listing price for homes in the city was $772,250 in July, according to Realtor.com® data.

Among property owners in New York City, the research found, 51% are married-couple families. In fact, married-couple families are the majority owner type in 225 of NYC's 278 neighborhoods.

Not surprisingly, those homeowners are most dominant in Staten Island, the city's most traditional borough, where they make up around 60% of property owners. Married-couple families make up around 53% of homeowners in both Brooklyn and Queens, and 41% of homeowners in the Bronx.

In Manhattan, married-couple families comprise 45% of homeowners, but non-family owners make up the largest share of homeowners in the borough, at nearly 48%.

Where Married Couples Rule the Block

So where are the most married couples purchasing homes in NYC?

Unsurprisingly, the most popular boroughs for married couples to buy are Staten Island and Brooklyn.

Located on the southeastern tip of Brooklyn, the community of Mill Basin ranks first in terms of share of married couples who own homes there. Around 75% of homeowners in Mill Basin, known colloquially as "the Miami of Brooklyn," are married couples looking to raise kids within the area's more suburban lifestyle.

But it's not cheap. The area is dotted with waterfront mansions, and the median listing price in Mill Basin is just over $1 million.

Borough Park, Greenwood Heights, and Columbia Street Waterfront District — all on the western edge of Brooklyn — were other top Brooklyn neighborhoods for married couples. Between 71% and 73% of homeowners in these neighborhoods are married with children.

The Columbia Street Waterfront District is adjacent to the more established—and pricey—neighborhoods of Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens, and it's also one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the city, with a median sale price of $1,875,000.

"It's one of those rare NYC neighborhoods where families can truly have the best of both worlds," says Jessica Perry, a real estate broker with Douglas Elliman Real Estate in Brooklyn. "You have the genuine sense of small-town, community living within the big city."

Perry says the area's walkability and wealth of green spaces make it an easy sell.

"Parents can walk to school with their children, easily find family-friendly restaurants, support small businesses and be a true part of a close-knit community," she adds. "Families appreciate not having to get into a car or navigate public transit to make their lives work."  

For families that aren't so car-averse, Staten Island is a popular place to own a home. Five of the ten areas with the highest concentration of married-couple homeowners are on the island.

They include Concord, where 74.5% of homeowners are married-couple families; Charleston (73.2%), which attracts a slightly higher share of younger married buyers; Lighthouse Hill (72%); Pleasant Plains (71.8%); and Bay Terrace (71.6%).

One surprising area with a high percentage of married-couple homeowners is Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood, where married homeowners make up 73%. Unlike the other neighborhoods on the list, most of these homeowners are 65 and older, suggesting the married population here has likely been settled for a long time.

That makes sense, given that the Lower East Side and Chinatown saw a massive housing price decline between 1974 and 1980, driven by rising crime and a lack of infrastructure. During that period, housing prices fell by 28.5%.

Overall, Manhattan, shaped by massive apartment complexes and condos, is the only borough where non-family owners are the majority.

Across the boroughs, younger families are almost entirely absent from the homeownership pool. Married-couple families under 35 make up just 8% of the homeowner pool, illustrating that even the neighborhoods with the largest shares of married-couple family owners remain out of reach for younger couples. Meanwhile, adult couples over 65 make up 38% of all homeowners in the city.