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DealMachine data

Absentee owner statistics 2026: 50 large US cities

Across 50 large US cities, DealMachine data counts 6,413,910 properties whose owner does not live there and 8,986,398 where the owner does, as of August 18, 2026.

Counts as of August 18, 2026 · 50 large US cities · How we counted

Key findings

  1. In 49 large US cities (New York is left out; see how we counted), 41.0% of the properties DealMachine data marks as owner-occupied or absentee-owned have an owner who lives somewhere else (6,229,771 of 15,212,021).
  2. Boston has the highest absentee-owned share of the 49 cities: 68.7% (98,242 of 142,994), followed by Detroit (60.7%) and Chicago (58.9%).
  3. Minneapolis has the lowest absentee-owned share: 23.7% (78,514 of 330,657), followed by Virginia Beach (26.5%).
  4. Chicago has the most absentee-owned properties of the 50 cities, 405,363, ahead of Houston with 384,750.
  5. Las Vegas has the most properties whose owner lives in another state: 106,969, which is 2.4 times Phoenix's 44,891 and 9.6% of the 1,109,381 across all 50 cities.
  6. DealMachine data counts 2,477,916 properties owned by a company rather than a person across the 50 cities; Houston has the most (137,772), then San Diego (115,165).

All 50 cities

Each city links to its DealMachine search page with the matching properties.

Absentee and investor ownership by city, DealMachine data as of August 18, 2026. Ranked by absentee-owned properties.

Swipe sideways for all 6 columns.

Absentee and investor ownership by city, DealMachine data as of August 18, 2026. Ranked by absentee-owned properties.
CityAbsentee-ownedOwner-occupiedAbsentee shareOut-of-state ownersCorporate owners
Chicago, IL405,363283,14558.9%44,70085,477
Houston, TX384,750611,09438.6%33,945137,772
Los Angeles, CA273,763384,84541.6%17,06580,241
Las Vegas, NV236,436267,39046.9%106,96992,221
Philadelphia, PA223,427319,25341.2%37,42282,843
Detroit, MI203,023131,54260.7%17,71873,097
San Antonio, TX194,480406,97832.3%27,04467,366
New York, NY184,1394,148Not shown29,30870,957
Phoenix, AZ172,676244,38641.4%44,89181,622
Miami, FL163,432207,96244.0%17,78596,671
St. Louis, MO149,372199,32442.8%25,21058,947
Jacksonville, FL146,442216,23840.4%37,06751,179
El Paso, TX145,114184,29644.1%40,21727,308
Orlando, FL141,981166,46346.0%33,73848,465
San Diego, CA141,718188,38242.9%16,633115,165
Memphis, TN132,874127,32151.1%43,55524,717
Cleveland, OH131,951158,66145.4%19,86352,289
Cincinnati, OH128,281178,94641.8%15,04859,948
Dallas, TX126,190214,01637.1%14,22237,184
Columbus, OH123,255136,94247.4%33,22280,941
Charlotte, NC117,253201,81436.7%36,38862,556
Austin, TX109,285187,53036.8%17,42136,982
Fort Worth, TX108,006196,98335.4%16,89629,494
Nashville, TN107,860141,26243.3%20,73044,487
Portland, OR107,821176,61637.9%21,00931,102
Tucson, AZ106,819180,80137.1%28,05038,980
Indianapolis, IN106,564230,35931.6%25,23158,220
Atlanta, GA105,328166,05538.8%18,68541,246
Baltimore, MD102,327147,49241.0%15,91960,371
Louisville, KY101,656194,10534.4%14,80256,661
Boston, MA98,24244,75268.7%7,70727,421
Pittsburgh, PA95,776185,05034.1%10,06653,370
Denver, CO94,173141,09640.0%14,91624,218
Tampa, FL91,766142,76739.1%18,44043,820
Kansas City, MO91,198118,52343.5%26,71138,924
Oklahoma City, OK88,711128,10840.9%11,81151,233
Sacramento, CA87,564149,33237.0%7,03617,942
New Orleans, LA85,11282,69050.7%14,17532,263
Seattle, WA85,060125,25240.4%9,98816,929
San Francisco, CA80,03494,13446.0%7,87025,048
Minneapolis, MN78,514252,14323.7%9,71727,660
Albuquerque, NM71,274161,84030.6%12,99929,032
Mesa, AZ70,22091,27043.5%25,49828,247
Milwaukee, WI70,110129,73535.1%8,54831,766
Colorado Springs, CO68,544148,36831.6%16,69221,477
Tulsa, OK66,36974,42047.1%7,22632,634
Raleigh, NC65,165122,61734.7%13,07530,381
Fresno, CA57,18799,05736.6%2,48316,234
Omaha, NE47,383130,06826.7%6,42929,052
Virginia Beach, VA39,922110,82726.5%7,24115,756

How we counted

  • Absentee-owned: the owner does not live at the property. Owner-occupied: the owner lives there. A property is counted only when DealMachine data can tell which.
  • Absentee share is absentee-owned out of absentee-owned plus owner-occupied, in the same city.
  • New York is left out of every share. Its property records rarely say whether the owner lives there, so its owner-occupied count is too low to compare.
  • Out-of-state owners: the owner's mailing address is in a different state than the property. Corporate owners: owned by a company or other business, not a person.
  • The counts come from DealMachine's property search on August 18, 2026, the same counts DealMachine's city search pages show for each kind of property.
  • Each city is the city itself, as its boundary appears in DealMachine data, not its metro area.
  • DealMachine data is built from county property records, deed and mortgage records and other public records, matched to each property and updated as the records change.
  • Counts are exact. Shares and ratios are rounded to one decimal place.

Cite this data

DealMachine, “Absentee owner statistics 2026: 50 large US cities,” DealMachine data as of August 18, 2026, https://www.dealmachine.com/data/statistics/absentee-owners

Questions

What percentage of homes are owned by absentee owners?

In DealMachine data for 49 large US cities, 41.0% of properties whose owner occupancy is known are absentee-owned, as of August 18, 2026. The share runs from 23.7% in Minneapolis to 68.7% in Boston.

Which city has the most absentee owners?

Chicago, with 405,363 absentee-owned properties in DealMachine data. By share, Boston is highest at 68.7%.

Which city has the most out-of-state property owners?

Las Vegas, with 106,969 properties whose owner's mailing address is in another state, 2.4 times Phoenix, the next highest.

More DealMachine data statistics

Home equity statistics 2026: 50 large US cities

Across 50 large US cities, DealMachine data counts 11,487,574 properties whose owners hold 60% or more equity and 1,764,459 whose owners hold 20% or less, as of August 18, 2026.

Vacant home and foreclosure auction statistics 2026: 50 large US cities

Across 50 large US cities, DealMachine data counts 381,534 homes that appear to be vacant and 172,554 properties with a foreclosure auction date set, as of August 18, 2026.

What a DealMachine property record holds

The ownership, equity, mortgage and distress details behind these counts.

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