Mapped: Where Americans Have Paid Off Their Homes

Where Americans Are Paying Off Their Mortgages

Roughly two in five owner-occupied homes in the U.S. are owned free and clear. In some states, more than half of homeowners have no mortgage at all.

This map shows the share of owner-occupied homes without a mortgage in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., using the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2025 American Community Survey. Mortgage-free homes have no mortgage, home equity loan, or similar debt secured by the property.

West Virginia Has the Highest Share of Paid-Off Homes

West Virginia leads with 56.6% of owner-occupied homes mortgage-free, 3.9 percentage points ahead of Mississippi at 52.7%. They are the only two states where more than half of owner-occupied homes have no mortgage.

Lower home prices may help explain part of the difference. The median owner-occupied home in West Virginia is worth about $176,000, less than a quarter of California’s $771,000. In California, just 34.4% of owner-occupied homes are mortgage-free.

Here are all 50 states and Washington, D.C., ranked by the share of owner-occupied homes without a mortgage in 2025:

Rank	State or District	Mortgage-Free Owner-Occupied Homes, 2025 (%)
1	West Virginia	56.6
2	Mississippi	52.7
3	New Mexico	50.0
4	Louisiana	49.1
5	North Dakota	48.9
6	Oklahoma	48.6
7	South Dakota	48.4
8	Arkansas	47.3
9	Alabama	46.7
10	Kentucky	46.2
11	Montana	46.1
12	Florida	45.3
13	Texas	44.7
14	Kansas	44.7
15	Wyoming	44.5
16	New York	44.4
17	Maine	44.2
18	Tennessee	44.1
19	Pennsylvania	44.0
20	Alaska	43.8
21	South Carolina	43.8
22	Michigan	43.4
23	Vermont	43.4
24	Nebraska	42.4
25	Iowa	42.2
26	Missouri	41.4
27	Wisconsin	41.3
28	Ohio	41.3
29	Hawaii	40.6
30	Illinois	40.5
31	New Hampshire	40.5
32	North Carolina	39.8
33	Idaho	39.5
34	Indiana	38.9
35	Arizona	38.7
36	Georgia	38.5
37	Delaware	38.2
38	Oregon	37.8
39	New Jersey	37.5
40	Minnesota	37.4
41	Connecticut	37.1
42	Washington	36.1
43	Rhode Island	35.9
44	Nevada	35.9
45	Massachusetts	35.2
46	Virginia	34.8
47	California	34.4
48	Utah	33.2
49	Colorado	31.6
50	Maryland	30.6
51	District of Columbia	26.5
—	U.S. Average	41.0

Seven of the top 10 states are in the South. The Census Bureau also found that rural counties were more likely than urban counties to have high shares of mortgage-free homes, based on its 2024 five-year estimates.

Maryland has the lowest share among states, at 30.6%, while Washington, D.C., is lower still at 26.5%. Both have relatively expensive housing: typical home values reached about $428,000 in Maryland and $570,000 in D.C. in August 2026, compared with $369,000 nationally.

Higher home prices generally mean larger loans for buyers making the same percentage down payment, potentially making it harder to pay off a mortgage.

Older Homeowners Are Far More Likely to Be Mortgage-Free

Nationally, about 64% of homeowners age 65 and older own their homes free and clear, compared with 20% of homeowners under 35.

Older homeowners have had decades to pay down their loans. With a typical fixed-rate mortgage, early payments go largely toward interest, while later payments increasingly reduce the principal. This gives long-established owners an advantage over recent buyers.

Owning a home outright can also make retirement more affordable by eliminating monthly mortgage payments. The Federal Reserve finds that even among lower-income adults, older people are much more likely to own their homes outright.

However, mortgage-free doesn’t mean housing-cost-free. In 2025, median monthly owner costs were $703 for homes without a mortgage, compared with $2,163 for those with one. Even homeowners who have paid off their loans must still cover property taxes, insurance, utilities, and other expenses.

Still, eliminating a monthly mortgage payment can make a substantial difference to household finances, particularly for retirees living on fixed incomes.

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• Source: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-homeowners-without-mortgage-by-state/