How many homeowners have paid off their mortgages?

There’s one other piece of data that can help us build up a clearer picture of American homeowners. The American Community Survey also has tracks the age of the main householder in owner-occupied homes. It shows (admittedly, unsurprisingly) that mortgage-free homes tend to have older principal householders than homes that still have mortgages left to pay.

If you live in a home you own, I hope you’re one of the 32 percent that have paid off your mortgage. Given your age, though, that seems unlikely. Which is a shame because median housing costs are just $439 per month for mortgage-free housing units compared to $1,436 for those with a mortgage (although that still seems a heck of a lot better than paying the median $905 in rent with nothing to show for it).