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.

In 2015-19, 68% of housing units in the region were owner-occupied, higher than the national figure of 64% and much higher than the state figure of 54%. Monroe was the county with the lowest rate at 64%. Yates has the highest, at 80%, followed by Wyoming at 77%. The rate of homeownership in the City of Rochester was dramatically lower than every county, at 36% in 2015-19. Rates also were lower, though not to the same extent as in Rochester, in the cities of Geneva (51%), Batavia (52%) and Canandaigua (56%).

From 2000 to 2015-19, the national homeownership rate declined by 2% and the state rate was essentially unchanged. Rates were mostly flat for the region and individual counties from 2000 to 2010-14, with slight decreases through 2015-19. The large cities in the region generally follow the same course with the exception of Canandaigua, where owner occupied houses increased from 2000 to 2010-14 and then again in 2010-14 to 2015-19, ending 5 percentage points higher than 2000 levels.

Multi-year 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. 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.