The 5 Issues Facing America — and How Homeownership Helps Solve Them

From the Archives — Jason's earlier writings, fact-checked and revised.

I spend my days thinking about homeownership. It's my job — I run a nonprofit that builds homes with low- and moderate-income families. But it's more than a job to me. I've watched what owning a home does for a family, and it's bigger than the house. Here are five problems this country talks about constantly — and why I think more homeownership, especially for working families, would help with all of them.

1. Economic inequality.

Start with a number. The Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances found that in 2022, the median homeowner had a net worth of about $396,500. The median renter: about $10,410. That's a gap of roughly 38-to-1.

Now, part of that is selection — people who can afford to buy are already wealthier. But part of it is the house itself. A mortgage is forced savings: every payment builds equity. And over time, homes appreciate. For a low- or moderate-income family, a home is often the only appreciating asset they'll ever own. It won't close the whole wealth gap. But it gives working families a foothold in it.

2. Political disengagement.

People say nobody votes anymore. But the Census Bureau's voting data tells a more specific story: in the 2008 presidential election, about 68% of homeowners voted, compared to about 52% of renters. And a study of Ohio voters found that buying a home raised an individual's turnout in local elections by about five percentage points.

Why? Because homeowners have skin in the game. They pay property taxes. They live with the school board's decisions and the zoning board's decisions. Research on voters in disadvantaged neighborhoods found the same pattern — owning, even there, pulls people into local civic life. I don't think a deed makes anyone a better citizen. But when you're planted somewhere, you pay attention to what happens there.

3. Housing affordability.

This one's the most direct. Every family that moves from renting into an affordable home takes pressure off the rental market — and gains a fixed housing cost they can plan around. Programs like down-payment assistance, community land trusts, and nonprofit builds create ownership that's affordable for the long haul, not just the first year. That's the work we do every day: sweat equity, affordable mortgages, homes built to last. It's not a theory. It's a roof.

4. Mental health.

The American Psychological Association's Stress in America surveys consistently rank money and housing costs among the top stressors in people's lives. And the research backs it up: a Michigan study of working-aged adults found that people who had moved for cost reasons, fallen behind on rent or a mortgage, or gone through foreclosure were significantly more likely to report anxiety attacks and meet the criteria for depression. A University of Pittsburgh study of more than 36,000 families found that when parents were stressed about eviction or losing their home, their kids' depression symptoms ran 10 to 35 percent higher.

I'm not saying a mortgage fixes anxiety. But housing instability causes a measurable kind of suffering — the kind that comes from not knowing if you'll be in the same place next month. Stable ownership takes that weight off the table.

5. Community bonds.

Census data shows the median homeowner stays in their current home about nine years. For renters, it's about two. Nine years is enough time to know your neighbors, to coach a team, to watch somebody's kid grow up. Two years is enough time to learn the trash schedule.

Longer roots mean deeper relationships. The block with people who've been there a decade feels different from the block where everyone's new. You can feel the difference. That kind of community doesn't come from a program — it comes from people staying put because they have a reason to.

None of this is magic. Homeownership doesn't fix a person, and it doesn't fix a country by itself. But for low- or moderate-income families, it's one of the strongest tools we've got — not just for building wealth, but for building citizens, neighbors, and stable lives.

Five problems. One foundation. It starts with a door you can call your own.