Women may be making less than men—earning just 83.6% of what their male counterparts bring home—but they’re dominating in one major financial arena: homeownership.Women may be making less than men — earning just 83.6percent of what their male counterparts bring home — but they’re dominating in one major financial arena: home ownership.Despite the persistent gender pay gap, single women are securing homeownership at significantly higher rates than their male counterparts.That’s according to a new LendingTree analysis of US Census Bureau data, which found that single women own about 2.72 million more homes than single men, bucking traditional financial trends.It’s no secret that women in the US typically earn less than men. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women’s median weekly earnings amount to just 83.6 percent of men’s. But when it comes to Home Ownership tables have turned. In 47 out of 50 states, single women who live alone are more likely to own a home than their single male counterparts.Experts suggest that women are more willing to make financial sacrifices to become homeowners.Additionally, millennial women in certain cities — such as Allentown, Pennsylvania and Portland, Maine — actually out-earn their male counterparts, helping them afford homeownership. But age also plays a role. Women tend to live longer than men, meaning many single female homeowners are widows who either inherited their homes or purchased new ones after the death of a spouse.LendingTree’s Chief Credit Analyst, Matt Schulz, summed up the findings: “It’s pretty eye-opening that 3 million more single women than single men own a home. Given the unique economic headwinds that women in this country face, including earning less than men on average, that is no small feat. I believe it speaks to the sacrifices that many women are willing to make in order to make a better financial life.”
