America’s Most Expensive Housing Market Is a Married-Couple Stronghold 

Nestled in the heart of California's Silicon Valley, San Jose is synonymous with a booming tech industry and sky-high home prices—but it also stands out for having one of the highest concentrations of married couples among major U.S. metros. 

In San Jose, roughly 54% of households are forged in marriage, compared to less than half of households nationwide, according to a new analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey data carried out by the National Association of Realtors®. 

"The data shows that high-cost metros may delay family formation, but they don't eliminate it," writes Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of real estate research at NAR. 

San Jose has the distinction of consistently ranking as the nation's priciest housing market among the 50 biggest metros. In January, the typical home in the city cost $1.195 million, which is roughly three times the national median of $399,900, according to the latest monthly housing market trends report from Realtor.com®.

Evangelou explains that while people in high-priced markets like San Jose tend to defer marriage and parenthood, most still say "I do" eventually.

According to the NAR economist, these married-couple households are likelier to have dual incomes, higher levels of education, and greater financial stability than their unmarried counterparts.

Alexander Kalla, a San Francisco Bay Area–based real estate agent, says married buyers in San Jose enjoy a major financial advantage over singles.

"The entry ticket to homeownership in San Jose is so high that it’s simply much easier to make the math work when there are two strong W‑2 incomes behind the purchase," Kalla tells Realtor.com. "With typical home prices well into seven figures, even a modest single‑family home requires a six‑figure down payment and a very large monthly payment, and that’s a lot for one income to shoulder alone."

Relationship between marriage and housing

Marriage rates and housing market conditions are closely intertwined. Persistent affordability challenges, including elevated mortgage rates and home prices, have been prompting 30-year-olds to delay major life milestones, including marriage and first-home purchases.

The percentage of married households across U.S. metros dropped to 47% last year, down from nearly 66% in 1975, according to Census Bureau estimates released in December.

Among married-couple households, the portion with their own children declined to 37% compared to 54% in 1975.

Meanwhile, the median age of a first-time homebuyers in the U.S. reached 40 years last year, a record high—up from 38 years in 2024—as NAR's annual profile of home buyers and sellers revealed in 2025.

San Jose's housing market says 'I do'

But San Jose bucks some of these national trends—with significant implications for the local housing market.

Evangelou notes that households built around marriage tend to fuel more stable overall demand and stronger demand for larger homes, focusing on properties where they can raise a family. They also tend to stay in place longer than younger, unmarried buyers.

"In a market often associated with affordability challenges, the data shows that married-couple households remain a major force of the local housing demand," Evangelou tells Realtor.com.

Kalla says that dynamic is especially evident in multiple‑offer situations.

"On desirable family homes near top schools, the winning offer is often a married, dual‑income household that can be a bit more aggressive on price, shorten contingencies, and still look very strong on paper," says the agent. "Singles can absolutely compete if they have exceptional earnings or a large down payment, but as a group they’re at more of a disadvantage in San Jose simply because our baseline prices and carrying costs are so high."

For context, based on NAR's data analysis, the metro with the nation's largest concentration of married-couple household is Provo, UT, at 68%, while Greenville, NC, has the smallest, at just 34.6%.

Evangelou explains that she chose to focus on San Jose, rather than highest-share Provo, because it is both one of the top 25 markets for married couples and one of the largest, highest-cost metros in the U.S.