Two-thirds of millennials would love to live in the suburbs

Forget Girls, Broad City, and every other show about millennials living in big cities. According to a new survey, 66 percent of millennials would rather live in the suburbs than in a city.

Millennials, a.k.a. those born in the 1980s and 1990s, are a key demographic for brokers. The Wall Street Journal reports that "one of the hottest debates among housing economists" is whether millennials want to live in big cities or if they'll eventually move to the suburbs.

A new survey released Wednesday by the National Association of Home Builders suggests that stereotypes about millennials in tiny, urban studio apartments may not be true. The group surveyed 1,506 people who were born after 1977 and found that most of them want to live in single-family suburban homes, even those who currently reside in the city.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

The survey found that 66 percent of millennials want to live in the suburbs, 24 percent want to live in rural areas, and just 10 percent want to live in a city center. One of the primary reasons millennials indicated wanting to leave the city center was "to live in more space than they have now."

There is one caveat to the survey, though: It only included millennials who either bought a home within the last three years or plan to do so in the next three years. So those planning to continue renting may want to stay in urban centers.