Birmingham has seen a 50% decrease of Millennials (people between 27 and 42 years old) living at home with their parents in the last five years, according to a recent study from rental database RentCafe.

This places the Birmingham metro area in 9th place in the study’s list of the top 20 metros with the biggest decreases of Millennials living in multigenerational households. To create their ranking, RentCafe used U.S. Census data aggregated by the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series database.

Housing affordability, relative to other areas is the main reason for Birmingham’s high ranking, according to local real estate agent Chris Prichard.

Birmingham’s ranking “likely comes down to the Birmingham metro being one of the lower priced places to purchase and rent compared to the national average,” Prichard said. “Although wages here are also lower than average nationally, I suspect that remote work and the availability of local jobs in the medical, financial, tech, and higher education fields make renting or purchasing doable for Millennials and even Zoomers.”

The metro’s affordability made it easy for Renae Rainier’s soon-to-be 27-year-old son, Drew, to purchase his own home in Mount Olive last year, said his proud mother.