The managerial behavior of young families in the pursuit of home ownership was explored with a sample of 1267 households from northwestern lowa. Young owners had higher incomes and higher monthly housing expenses than young nonowners, but the percentage of income devoted to housing did not differ between young owners and young nonowners. Young owners did not have a higher number of full‐time workers per household than young nonowners. Young owners had higher persons‐per‐room ratios and had compromised neighborhood accessibility standards, but not housing quality standards. The findings indicate that a high level of monetary resources was a key factor in enabling young families to own a single‐family detached dwelling, for there were few important compromises in housing space and