More Than 40% of U.S. Homes Are Owned Free and Clear
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About 34.9 million American homes are owned free and clear, 40.3% of the homes their owners live in, according to the Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey. In 2014 the share was 36.2%.
The owners of those homes had median selected monthly owner costs of $664 in 2024, against $2,035 for homes with a mortgage. That Census measure counts property taxes, insurance, utilities and fuels, and condo or association fees, plus loan payments where there is a mortgage. Routine maintenance and repairs aren’t part of it.
In West Virginia, where 55.1% of owner-occupied homes have no mortgage, the median for a paid-off house was $412 a month. Across the state line in Maryland, where 30.0% are paid off, it was $790, and $2,389 for a home with a mortgage. California’s paid-off homes came in at $882 a month against $3,001 with a mortgage.
Most paid-off homes belong to older households. In 53.9% of them the householder, the person the home is owned under, is 65 or older, and among homes with a householder 75 or older, 72.0% have no mortgage. Roughly 1.7 million paid-off homes have a householder under 35, about one in five owner-occupied homes in that age group.
| Age of householder | Share with no mortgage | Homes with no mortgage |
|---|---|---|
| Under 35 | 19.2% | 1,722,793 |
| 35 to 44 | 19.5% | 2,818,691 |
| 45 to 54 | 26.3% | 4,089,044 |
| 55 to 59 | 36.0% | 3,012,806 |
| 60 to 64 | 46.0% | 4,460,327 |
| 65 to 74 | 57.7% | 9,863,182 |
| 75 and older | 72.0% | 8,970,690 |
Where paid-off homes are most common
West Virginia, Mississippi (51.6%) and New Mexico (50.6%) are the three states where paid-off homes outnumber mortgaged ones. They are also among the least expensive places to own a home: the typical owner-occupied home was worth $170,800 in West Virginia in 2024 and $186,500 in Mississippi. Colorado, with 31.0% paid off, had a typical value of $574,600. Maryland’s 30.0% was the lowest of any state, and Washington, D.C., came in at 25.7%.
Texas has more paid-off homes than any other state, about 3.18 million, ahead of Florida’s 2.75 million. California has 2.61 million even though only 33.9% of its owner-occupied homes are free and clear, because no state has more owner-occupied homes.
| State | Share with no mortgage | Homes with no mortgage | Monthly owner costs, no mortgage | Monthly owner costs, with a mortgage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | 55.1% | 308,345 | $412 | $1,272 |
| Mississippi | 51.6% | 427,792 | $449 | $1,448 |
| New Mexico | 50.6% | 308,183 | $450 | $1,628 |
| North Dakota | 48.7% | 104,233 | $576 | $1,814 |
| Louisiana | 48.2% | 607,232 | $471 | $1,650 |
| Arkansas | 47.6% | 398,040 | $450 | $1,375 |
| Wyoming | 47.1% | 86,495 | $575 | $1,815 |
| Alabama | 46.5% | 679,346 | $469 | $1,500 |
| Oklahoma | 46.1% | 485,415 | $535 | $1,606 |
| Montana | 45.9% | 147,734 | $589 | $1,878 |
| South Dakota | 45.4% | 118,556 | $628 | $1,739 |
| Kentucky | 45.3% | 575,112 | $470 | $1,453 |
| Maine | 44.5% | 200,774 | $657 | $1,796 |
| Texas | 44.5% | 3,175,928 | $703 | $2,211 |
| Florida | 44.2% | 2,746,281 | $766 | $2,168 |
| Michigan | 43.5% | 1,318,675 | $598 | $1,573 |
| Tennessee | 43.5% | 851,126 | $468 | $1,637 |
| Pennsylvania | 43.3% | 1,607,269 | $639 | $1,775 |
| New York | 43.2% | 1,836,251 | $980 | $2,544 |
| Kansas | 43.0% | 352,881 | $656 | $1,749 |
| South Carolina | 43.0% | 691,168 | $476 | $1,627 |
| Nebraska | 42.2% | 231,893 | $700 | $1,764 |
| Vermont | 42.2% | 88,248 | $827 | $1,893 |
| Iowa | 41.9% | 401,448 | $615 | $1,538 |
| Missouri | 41.2% | 724,646 | $564 | $1,589 |
| Illinois | 40.3% | 1,389,232 | $807 | $1,994 |
| Ohio | 40.3% | 1,350,834 | $610 | $1,563 |
| Wisconsin | 40.0% | 689,774 | $644 | $1,701 |
| Alaska | 39.6% | 72,117 | $698 | $2,253 |
| Idaho | 39.6% | 213,449 | $500 | $1,769 |
| North Carolina | 39.5% | 1,187,127 | $524 | $1,747 |
| Arizona | 39.4% | 796,249 | $560 | $1,893 |
| New Hampshire | 39.4% | 163,353 | $1,002 | $2,399 |
| Hawaii | 39.3% | 119,525 | $760 | $2,937 |
| Indiana | 37.5% | 736,982 | $526 | $1,466 |
| Minnesota | 37.4% | 632,868 | $717 | $1,985 |
| Georgia | 37.3% | 1,042,597 | $575 | $1,909 |
| Delaware | 37.2% | 113,096 | $596 | $1,821 |
| Connecticut | 37.1% | 360,297 | $1,060 | $2,454 |
| New Jersey | 37.1% | 839,164 | $1,236 | $2,797 |
| Oregon | 36.6% | 403,325 | $713 | $2,234 |
| Washington | 34.9% | 694,793 | $805 | $2,519 |
| Nevada | 34.7% | 258,650 | $634 | $2,008 |
| Massachusetts | 34.5% | 608,478 | $1,069 | $2,755 |
| Rhode Island | 34.4% | 97,943 | $926 | $2,262 |
| Virginia | 34.2% | 792,392 | $621 | $2,149 |
| California | 33.9% | 2,608,492 | $882 | $3,001 |
| Utah | 32.0% | 263,290 | $598 | $2,143 |
| Colorado | 31.0% | 507,406 | $722 | $2,466 |
| Maryland | 30.0% | 488,327 | $790 | $2,389 |
| District of Columbia | 25.7% | 34,702 | $958 | $3,181 |
County by county
The Census Bureau’s five-year figures, which pool 2020 through 2024, are the ones that cover every county. On that basis 39.4% of owner-occupied homes nationally have no mortgage. Half the owner-occupied homes in Manhattan, 50.5%, are paid off. Hidalgo County, Texas, which includes McAllen, is at 60.6%, the highest of any county with 100,000 or more owner-occupied homes, and Collier and Sarasota counties on Florida’s Gulf Coast are both above 50%.
Loudoun County, Virginia, sits at the bottom of that large-county group at 19.3%. Prince William County, Prince George’s County in Maryland and Douglas County outside Denver all fall between 21% and 23%. In 686 of the 3,143 counties and county equivalents with an estimate, at least 60% of owner-occupied homes are paid off, and 648 of those 686 have fewer than 10,000 owner-occupied homes.
What a paid-off home is worth
The typical home with no mortgage was worth $304,400 in 2024, and with no loan against it, all of that value is the owner’s equity. A home with a mortgage was typically worth more, $391,600, with the loan balance still owed against it.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, tables B25081, B25027, B25088 and B25097; 2020 to 2024 5-year estimates, table B25081 (counties; one county with no owner-occupied homes excluded); 2014 1-year estimates, table B25081. This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.
