Rethinking what multigenerational living can look like.
Families are finding new ways to stay close across generations. For some, that means sharing a home. For others, it might mean an ADU out back or simply living around the corner.
Don’t start with the house. Start with how you want to live together.
Multigenerational living doesn’t have to mean putting everyone under one roof. The better question is: What kind of closeness works for your family?
That’s up from 13% in 1970 — part of a much longer shift in how American families are living.
More Generations Are Living Together
Share of U.S. population living in multigenerational households
It’s about more than affordability.
Among buyers who purchased a multigenerational home, care, cost and connection all played a role.
Source: National Association of REALTORS® 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Respondents could cite more than one reason.
Start with the need, not the property type. The right housing solution depends on what the family is actually trying to solve — caregiving, affordability, connection, or some combination of the three.
Define the life before you define the house.
Before deciding what “together” looks like, first define how much proximity, privacy, flexibility and financial overlap your family actually wants.
Same kitchen, same property, walking distance — or a short drive?
Think entrances, living space, daily routines and how much independence each household wants.
Today’s convenience may eventually need to accommodate mobility, caregiving or a changing household.
Decide whether housing costs need to be combined, shared in part or kept largely separate.
Living together isn’t the only way to live closer.
Once you’ve defined the right balance of proximity, privacy, future needs and finances, the housing structure becomes easier to narrow down.
The arrangements below are a Soom Living framework for thinking about housing across generations. Families living in separate nearby homes are not included in formal multigenerational-household statistics.
The more everyday life you want to share, the more the search shifts from two independent homes toward one shared property or home.
Under One Roof
One home designed to comfortably support multiple generations.
Same Property
An ADU or separate living space creates proximity while preserving more household independence.
Around the Corner
Separate homes nearby can provide connection without sharing an address.
The goal isn’t necessarily to fit more family under one roof.
It’s to create the right amount of closeness for yours. Once you understand how you want everyday life to work, the right housing solution becomes much easier to define.
Sources: Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census and American Community Survey data; National Association of REALTORS® 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Definitions of multigenerational households vary by source; statistics should not be interpreted as directly interchangeable across datasets. The One Home / One Property / Two Homes framework is a Soom Living framework for considering housing arrangements across generations and is not a classification used by the cited datasets.
