For the first time in years, the math might finally favor renters. Across the country, prices for studios, one-bedrooms, and two-bedroom apartments are dropping.
In May 2025, the national median rent fell for the 22nd month in a row, according to data from Realtor.com®—a sign that the rental market is softening after years of soaring costs and impossible trade-offs.
But despite this rare opening, millions of young adults aren’t seizing the opportunity to move out.
Instead, they’re staying put in their childhood bedrooms, stuck between caution and comfort.
This moment matters. For many young adults, waiting for the perfect time to launch could mean missing the best time.
And the longer they delay, the more they risk falling behind in ways that no amount of rent-free living can fix.
Comfort is expensive
Living at home is becoming a defining feature of a generation. Nearly half of parents today have had an adult child move back in, according to a recent survey from Thrivent.
That shift made sense in recent years. Rent was often unaffordable, inflation was brutal, and entry-level wages couldn’t keep up with everyday costs.
But today’s numbers tell a different story. Asking rents have dropped nearly across the board: Studios are down 1.9% year over year, one-bedrooms down 2.3%, and two-bedrooms down 1.7%, according to the Realtor.com May 2025 Rental Report. In more than half of the nation’s largest cities, rent growth is now trailing overall inflation, something that hasn’t happened consistently in years.
For renters willing to downsize, commute, or share space, the market is finally cooling enough to offer real options. Yet many young adults remain at home—not because they have to, but because they can. And while that decision might feel safe, experts say it could be costing more than they think.
The generation that’s falling behind
Living at home might postpone rent, but it also postpones progress.
That’s because a little financial pressure is good. It forces young adults to budget with intention, develop discipline, and build habits that rarely form when the stakes seem low.
Thrivent’s survey backs this up: Only 46% of young adults currently living at home earned high marks from their parents for budgeting skills, compared with 63% of peers who never moved back.
Even more concerning is that many young adults aren’t saving at all, despite increased levels of living at home ostensibly to save money. A 2022 Morgan Stanley report found that some boomerang kids were actually spending more on nonessentials, helping drive a luxury goods boom among young adults with low living expenses and high discretionary income.
And when they do save, it’s often not enough to close the wealth gap. Millennials report having an average of $110,556 in savings—nearly half the average savings held by boomers, according to a 2025 Newsweek survey. And nearly 1 in 5 millennials has no savings at all.
At a time when rents are softening and financial habits could be sharpened, many young adults are falling further behind—not despite living at home, but perhaps because of it.
Parents are paying, too
The costs aren’t just borne by adult children. Parents are footing a growing bill, often at a pivotal time in their own financial lives.
Thrivent’s data reveals that 38% of parents with adult children at home have seen their retirement savings take a hit. Also, 39% say it’s affected their ability to save for near-term goals like travel, home repairs, or health care. Yet 60% of young adults say their parents never discuss these trade-offs with them.
This financial silence can seem generous, but it might be undermining both generations.
And the ripple effects extend beyond the household. When young adults stay home longer, they delay key milestones like renting, buying a first home, or relocating for better job opportunities. These delays slow down movement in the broader housing market and compound the strain on multigenerational living arrangements.
Support without structure can become a trap. Without a plan, what starts as temporary shelter can harden into inertia.
The case for moving out
The cost of living might still be high, but the cost of waiting could be higher.
For much of U.S. history, progress meant motion, argues Yoni Appelbaum, a social and cultural historian at The Atlantic. Moving out, whether across town or across the country, was how people chased opportunity, built community, and shaped new lives. But today, that momentum has slowed to a crawl. Just 1 in 13 Americans moves in a given year, down from 1 in 5 in 1970. Staying put has become the norm, but that doesn’t mean it’s working.
Living at home might seem like the safer choice. But safety without growth can quickly become stagnation. The longer you stay in a consequence-free environment, the harder it becomes to develop the habits, independence, and self-trust that adulthood requires.
Moving out doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be a start.
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