White Americans make up a disproportionate number of US homeowners, and it's most extreme in New York City

Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Rogelio Huerta and Maria Soto sitting on the steps of their home in Illinois with their two children.

• A recent study by LendingTree looked at how much race affects homeownership rates in the 50 largest US metro areas.
• It found that, in the 50 metro areas, white Americans make up an average of 59% of the population and own about 73% of the owner-occupied homes.
• According to the study, the gap between white-American population and white-American homeownership is the widest in the New York metro area.
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A recent study by LendingTree, an online lending marketplace, tackled one of the most heavily talked about categories in American life - race.

The analysis, published Tuesday, looked at how much race affects homeownership rates in the 50 largest US metro areas.

It found that in these areas, white Americans make up an average of 59% of the population and own about 73% of the owner-occupied homes, availing themselves to the wealth that can come along with real estate.

The gap found in this study speaks to an issue of racial inequality that extends beyond just the home-buying industry. For example, white Americans, on average, have higher average incomes and are more likely to have college degrees than Americans who identify with nonwhite races. These factors, along with other social factors, contribute to the homeownership gap.

Read more: The racial wealth gap in the US keeps getting bigger - and it could cost the economy as much as $1.5 trillion by 2028

The gap is largest in New York and smallest in Pittsburgh.

The gap between the population of white Americans and the amount of homes owned by white Americans is the widest in the New York metro area. The researchers found that white Americans own around 67% of the area's owner-occupied homes but make up around just 47% of the area's population.

Other major metro areas that saw big gaps between the population of white Americans and the amount of homes they own include San Diego, where white Americans make up around 46% of the area's population but own around 65% of the area's owner-occupied homes, and Phoenix, where white American's make up around 56% of the area's population and own around 75% of the area's owner-occupied homes.

The smallest gaps included Pittsburgh, where white Americans are 86% of the population and own 93% of the area's owner-occupied homes, and Cincinnati, where white Americans make up around 80% of the population and own around 93% of the area's owner-occupied homes.

Read the full study at LendingTree »