Single mothers in the Philly region are more likely to own homes than in most major metros

Single mothers in the Philadelphia region have one of the highest home ownership rates across the country’s 50 largest metropolitan areas, according to an analysis by the online loan marketplace LendingTree.

Roughly 43% of single mothers in the Philadelphia metro owned their home in 2022, according to LendingTree’s analysis of Census Bureau data. The region ranked sixth behind metros to the west. And it had a higher home ownership rate than the roughly 34% rate across the 50 largest metros.

In the first-ranked Minneapolis metro, almost half — 49% — of single mothers owned homes. Single mothers are least likely to own homes in Los Angeles, where the ownership rate was about 23%. The Pittsburgh metro cracked the top 10 with a home ownership rate of about 39% among single mothers.

» READ MORE: The Philly area is one of the major U.S. metros where households don’t need to make six figures to afford the typical home

Elevated mortgage interest rates, low housing supply, high home prices, and rising childcare costs can make becoming a homeowner difficult for any single parent. And women tend to make less money than men. LendingTree also pointed to the potential influence of societal bias and discrimination against single mothers looking to advance in their careers or get approved for loans.

“I don’t think it should be as much of a struggle to buy a home as a single mom as the data suggest it is,” said Jacob Channel, a senior economist for LendingTree and author of the report, published last week. “We as a society really have a long way to go to make things more equitable between folks of different genders.”

There are almost three times as many single mothers as single fathers across the 50 largest metros. But a higher share of single fathers than single mothers own their homes — about 49%, compared to about 34%.

LendingTree’s analysis defined single-mother households as those headed by women living with their minor children without spouses present.

» READ MORE: The Philly area doesn’t have enough homes available for low- and middle-income buyers

“Buying a house, especially right now, on one income is really, really tough,” Channel said. And “issues are exacerbated if you are a parent.”

“We can and should be doing more to support single moms, and frankly single parents regardless of their gender,” he said. “It’s hard.”

About 66,500 single mothers in the Philadelphia region owned their homes in 2022. That’s the third-largest population among the 50 biggest metros, where a total of 1.45 million single mothers own their homes.

“There’s really not a concise reason” why the home ownership rate among single mothers is higher in certain places than in others, said Channel, saying “it’s a complicated intersection between social sciences and economics.”

» READ MORE: Philly’s wealthiest neighborhoods have median incomes that are $100,000 more than the poorest areas

For example, single mothers in certain areas may be more able or willing or feel obligated to purchase a home. Or they may have access to more programs that can help.

Mortgage banker Patrick Lopez at Quaint Oak Mortgage recalled that a divorced Philadelphia mother he worked with a few months ago wasn’t able to save more than a few thousand dollars at a time. She was only able to buy a home because of a pilot assistance program for first-time home buyers.

The Philadelphia metro ranked 20th for single mothers’ median household income — about $42,300. Single mothers in the Houston metro make the least out of the major metros — about $30,700. And those in the San Jose, Calif., metro make the most — about $67,600.