Here’s How Each Generation Defines the American Dream in 2025: Can They Afford It?

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Although life in America continues to change and evolve, the definition of the American Dream has stayed pretty consistent. A recent Clever Real Estate study found that millennials, Gen X and boomers all agree on the major tenets of the American Dream — though they weigh them slightly differently.

Here’s a look at how each generation defines the American Dream — plus, if they can afford to live their version.

The American Dream for Each Generation

All generations of Americans are aligned in their definition of the American Dream. According to the study, a majority of each generation believes that freedom of speech, a comfortable retirement, access to quality healthcare, access to quality education, owning a home and a fair justice system are all part of the American Dream. However, some factors are more important to certain generations than others.

For example, having a comfortable retirement is most important to boomers (95%), followed by millennials (87%) and Gen X (86%). Owning a home is equally important to boomers (90%) and Gen X (90%), and slightly less important to millennials (89%).

And while their definitions of the American Dream may be aligned, their odds of achieving it may not be.

Which Generations Are On Track for a Comfortable Retirement?

All generations see the ability to retire comfortably as part of the American Dream, although boomers weighted this aspect slightly higher than Gen X or millennials.

“[This] makes sense as many enjoy retired life or approach that age,” said Nick Pisano, data writer for Clever Real Estate.

As for whether or not boomers will actually achieve this dream, that’s uncertain.

“Two-thirds of respondents (66%) believe boomers are the most financially responsible when it comes to homeownership, a critical factor when it comes to retiring in an affordable and dignified way,” Pisano said. “However, our previous study of retired Americans found that almost half of them (43%) don’t have enough saved for a comfortable retirement.”

For Gen X and millennials, the viability of having a comfortable retirement is hard to foresee due to unknowns surrounding the financial safety nets typically provided by the government.

“It’s next to impossible to predict what kind of support they’ll be able to count on from programs like Medicare, Social Security and more,” Pisano said. “Any cuts to these programs could leave these generations even further behind, and make the likelihood of comfortably enjoying their golden years even smaller.”

Which Generations Are On Track To Achieve Homeownership?

The majority of all generations also see owning a home as a key part of the American Dream. It’s a dream that’s already reality for most older Americans.

“Based on our data, boomers are most likely to have achieved the dream of owning a home, with 79% of those surveyed owning a home,” Pisano said. “Even more notable, over half of the boomers we surveyed (53%) own their homes outright, without a mortgage.

“Gen X isn’t too far behind, with 71% owning a home in some capacity, while millennials have the furthest to go, with just 57% owning a home.”

There are a number of reasons why millennials could be lagging behind.

“This isn’t terribly surprising, as boomers have had decades longer to save for and buy homes, in addition to having the opportunity to purchase in the 1970s, ’80s or ’90s, before prices reached their current levels of unaffordability,” Pisano said.

But it’s not just financial reasons that could be at play.

“It’s hard to say how much of the difference can be chalked up to actual differences in how generations behave or what they value, rather than the effect of older generations having more time and better opportunities to buy,” Pisano said. “However, without changes to economic trends or a broad increase in housing construction, it’s hard to be optimistic about younger generations fully catching up, at least without some help from the government or their boomer or Gen X parents.”

Sources

• Clever Real Estate, “2025 Data: Surprising Findings on Homeownership by Generation” (April 23, 2025)

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