What does this measure?

The percentage of all occupied housing units (not vacant) that are owner-occupied (not rented).

Why is this important?

A home is often a family's greatest financial asset. Owning a home is a traditional part of the American dream and a typical entry point into the middle class. Homeownership is an important factor for neighborhood stability and civic participation.

How is the region performing?

In 2014-18, 70% of occupied housing units in the Mid-Hudson Valley were owner-occupied, equal to the state (excluding NYC) rate and above the national rate of 64%. Each county in the Mid-Hudson Valley had similar owner-occupied rates in 2014-18, except Putnam (82%), and have not varied more than 3 points from each other or the current rate, since 2000.

Homeownership rates were particularly low in some of the region's cities, such as Poughkeepsie (34%), Hudson (32%), and Newburgh (31%). Other municipalities with low homeownership rates included the villages of Fishkill (37%) and Kiryas Joel (27%). The highest rates of homeownership were in the towns of Hamptonburgh (97%), La Grange (95%), Lexington (94%), New Baltimore and Taghkanic (both 93%), and Greenville (92%).

Notes about the data

Multiyear figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined five years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. However, because the information came from a survey, the samples responding to the survey were not always large enough to produce reliable results, especially in small geographic areas. CGR has noted on data tables the estimates with relatively large margins of error. Estimates with three asterisks have the largest margins, plus or minus 50% or more of the estimate. Two asterisks mean plus or minus 35%-50%, and one asterisk means plus or minus 20%-35%. For all estimates, the confidence level is 90%, meaning there is 90% probability the true value (if the whole population were surveyed) would be within the margin of error (or confidence interval). The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census. Data for this indicator are expected to be released in the fourth quarter.