The most common apartment resident today is an unmarried millennial white woman with a salary below $50,000, according to recent data on apartment resident characteristics from Zillow.
Here are some key data points from the report:
- Fifty-seven percent of apartment residents are female.
- Just over half of apartment residents are white (52 percent), 19 percent are Latino, 17 percent are black, 9 percent are Asian/Pacific Islander and 3 percent are other.
- Residents’ median age is 32 and median yearly income is $37,500.
- Millennials make up 56 percent of the resident pool, followed by Generation X (28 percent), baby boomers (12 percent) and the silent generation (3 percent).
- Forty-five percent of residents are single, 35 percent are married and 20 percent are unmarried partners.
- A slight majority (51 percent) have a college degree—either a two-year, a four-year or a graduate degree.
- More than a third (35 percent) have a pet.
- Most people (84 percent) use online resources to find an apartment, but reaching out to property owners or managers (62 percent) and referrals from family and friends (59 percent) are also common search activities.
- The average apartment hunter contacts 4.7 apartment owners or managers during his or her search, and 53 percent consider property staff to be resources during the search.
- Sixty-one percent of apartment residents sign a one-year lease, while 14 percent rent month-to-month, 9 percent sign a lease longer than one year and 5 percent have no lease.