At 24, Ryan Hemenway is doing what many Gen Z workers can’t: saving thousands of dollars a month, working a job he enjoys, and buying a home.
He and his fiancée rent a one-bedroom apartment in the Minneapolis area for $1,190 a month. Hemenway said their combined income of about $100,000 and relatively modest housing costs in recent years helped them save about $3,000 a month — roughly half of their take-home pay — and set their sights on homeownership.
In late August, they got another step closer toward accomplishing that goal — putting in an offer on a $395,000 home in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. Hemenway said their offer was accepted and that he expects the sale to close soon. Their plan is to move in by October, giving them time to get settled before their wedding next May.
“We got the opportunity to purchase a nice home for as good a deal as you can get right now,” Hemenway said.
The Gen Zer said he credits one key strategy for making homeownership possible: living with his parents for a time.
Over the nine months he lived at home after graduating from college in 2022, Hemenway said he saved or invested about $30,000 — money that will go toward their 10% home down payment.
“The biggest thing you can do to help jump-start your financial situation, whether you find a job immediately or are still looking, is to live with your parents,” he said.
Hemenway and his fiancée are among the Gen Zers who graduated before 2024, when US businesses began hiring at nearly the slowest pace in more than a decade — a trend that continues today. That timing left them better-positioned to land jobs, build savings, and start thinking seriously about homeownership. More recent graduates, by contrast, have generally faced a tougher market and a more difficult path to affording a home.
Low housing costs helped them save for a home
Hemenway’s lease on his college housing ran through July 2023, so he continued living there after graduating the previous December. He then moved in with his parents — a move that allowed him to avoid rent entirely for roughly nine months.
Hemenway said he invested much of his savings from not having rent into index funds and a couple of stocks he thought had good business models.
“It worked out really well for me,” he said. “I was able to save up.”
In April 2024, Hemenway and his fiancée moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Fridley, Minnesota, with a base rent of $1,190 — roughly $1,400 including utilities and the garage they rent. The average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the US is $1,639, according to Apartments.com.
Hemenway said his fiancée started working a few months after graduating in 2023 and earns about 80% of his income. Their growing savings — aided by modest housing costs — gave the couple the confidence to seriously explore homeownership earlier this year. They began looking for small single-family homes and townhomes in the Minneapolis area that cost up to $300,000 — though they didn’t plan to buy a home until at least 2026.
Their plans changed in recent months, when they found a home that checked a lot of their boxes. While it was over their initial budget, they decided to make the offer of $395,000, which was ultimately accepted.
The couple plans to rent out a room in their home to a family member, which Hemenway said will help reduce their monthly housing costs — though they still expect to pay about $500 more monthly than their current rent.
Landing two jobs amid a changing hiring landscape
Homeownership might not have been possible if both Hemenway and his fiancée hadn’t been steadily employed — a position many Gen Zers can’t count on.
While layoffs remain low by historical standards, the hiring slowdown of recent years, driven by factors ranging from tariff uncertainty to the early effects of AI adoption, has left many young college grads especially vulnerable. Additionally, the Gen Zers who have managed to land jobs have often had a harder time switching to a new one that’s higher-paying or a better fit.
Hemenway’s job search began in June 2022, about six months before earning a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. He knew some employers might need hires to start immediately, but he sensed his search could be challenging, so he wanted to get a head start. By late October, he had secured a contract geologist role in Minnesota.
Hemenway said the job, which paid $250 a day for eight to 10 hours of work, allowed him to travel and gain valuable experience. But by the time his fiancée graduated in December 2023, he was ready for something with less travel, more consistent hours, and solid benefits.
“As much as I enjoyed the job, I was looking for stability,” he said.
While still working his contract job, he began job hunting again in June 2023. He applied to roughly five jobs a week and tried to network through his university. But as months passed without any interviews, he decided to change his approach.
Initially, Hemenway applied through job boards like ZipRecruiter and Indeed, but he began to worry that some listings were ghost jobs — outdated or already filled. He also thought applying directly through a company’s website — rather than through a job board — might help him stand out. So while he kept browsing ZipRecruiter and Indeed, he shifted to applying exclusively through company websites.
In early 2024, one of these applications led to an interview for a full-time field scientist role at Atlas Technical Consultants, an environmental consulting firm. The Minnesota-based job paid about $26 an hour. After months of not hearing back from prospective employers, he was determined to make the most of the opportunity.
“I knew once I finally got an interview that I had to crush it because I didn’t know when another chance would come along,” he said.
The interview went well enough — he got the job and started in March. Hemenway said his job involves a mix of fieldwork — such as collecting environmental samples — and writing reports. He’s typically on-site about three days a week and can often work from home the other two.
Living at home was key
While his job search was challenging, Hemenway said he’s grateful to have landed two jobs since graduation, especially since he’s seen some younger Gen Zers — particularly in scientific fields like his — struggle more to find work than himself and most of his friends.
But the most important factor in reaching his goal of buying a home, he said, was his moderate housing costs after graduation. His top advice for Gen Zers: Live at home for a while — whether you want to or not.
“I definitely credit those savings from my first year after graduating to making this possible,” he said of his recent home purchase. “It’s the way to go if one has the means.”
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