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Ranked: Homeownership Rates Across Major U.S. Occupations
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Key Takeaways
- High-paying jobs don’t always translate into higher homeownership.
- Several mid-income professions match or exceed ownership levels of top earners.
- After a certain income level, homeownership rates converge across occupations.
Does earning more money actually make it easier to own a home?
Across U.S. occupations, the answer isn’t as straightforward as it seems. While high-income roles like management and STEM lead in pay, their homeownership rates are often matched by mid-income professions such as education and social services.
Using data from the National Association of Realtors and the U.S. Census Bureau, this graphic ranks homeownership rates by occupation in 2024, revealing how factors beyond salary—like job stability and geographic distribution—shape who owns a home.
A clear pattern emerges: once incomes pass a moderate threshold, homeownership rates begin to level out across very different occupations.
Which Jobs Have High Homeownership Rates?
Management and business roles stand at 72%, reflecting both higher incomes and stability. But just below them, a surprising group of professions clusters tightly together.
STEM professionals and education workers have nearly identical homeownership rates (both 67%)—despite a massive gap in pay. In fact, STEM workers earn over $100K on average, while education workers make roughly $65K.
Here’s how homeownership varies across major occupations:
| Occupation | Homeownership Rate 2024 | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Management & Business | 72.2% | $91,398 |
| Education & Social Services | 67.3% | $65,147 |
| STEM / Technical | 67.2% | $102,450 |
| Sales & Real Estate | 63.3% | $50,967 |
| Healthcare | 62.2% | $82,134 |
| Skilled Trades & Construction | 62.0% | $54,777 |
| Transportation & Public Safety | 58.1% | $46,975 |
| Service Occupations | 45.5% | $38,936 |
Why do lower-paid professions keep pace? Occupations like education, healthcare, and public services often offer more stable employment, predictable income, and access to benefits—factors that can make long-term financial planning, including homeownership, more achievable.
Healthcare and skilled trades (both 62%) show relatively strong ownership, reinforcing the role of stable, in-demand work. Sales and real estate workers (63%) also sit in this middle band, reinforcing how a wide range of incomes converge at similar ownership levels.
At the lower end, transportation and public safety workers (58%) and service occupations (46%) lag behind, highlighting barriers faced by lower-income and less stable roles in accessing housing.
The biggest takeaway: beyond a certain income level, what you earn matters less than how stable and predictable that income is. That helps explain why professions with very different salaries end up with nearly identical homeownership rates.
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For more, explore this graphic on the average salaries by state in 2025.