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By Soo Kim
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A new study has shown that "sole" women applying for home loans on their own face greater odds of denial than "sole" men—except in Washington, D.C., and a few key states.
The study by LendingTree analyzed 2024 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data for home purchase loans on principal residences, retrieved on August 13, 2025. Borrowers with no co-borrower were classified as "sole."
A "sole" borrower is defined as an individual applying for a loan without a co-borrower. "Not all sole borrowers are single—presumably, some sole borrowers are in couples and buying homes for families but only put the loan in one person’s name," the study noted.
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It added that sole female mortgage applicants are nearly 30 percent more likely to be denied a mortgage than their male counterparts. But, in Washington, D.C., that trend is flipped. The district is the only place in the U.S. where more sole women applied for home purchase loans than men, and it is where women are least likely to be denied a mortgage.
The U.S. capital saw 32 percent of mortgage applicants classified as sole women, compared with 29.2 percent for sole men. Meanwhile, women were denied at a rate of 8.1 percent, versus 10.1 percent for men, topping the ranking of places where the denial rate favored women.
Only Washington, D.C., and five states—Alaska, followed by Hawaii, Vermont, Maine and Rhode Island—had higher denial rates for men.
Overall, sole female applicants were denied loans 15.7 percent of the time, compared to 12.1 percent for sole men. In some states, the gap is far wider.
Louisiana led with the highest denial gap, with 29 percent of sole female applicants turned down, compared to just 18.1 percent of sole men. Mississippi and Alabama also showed denial rate differences of over 7 percentage points.
Despite higher denial rates, the study shows sole women typically borrow less and secure slightly better interest rates.
Tansley Stearns, president and CEO at Community Financial Credit Union, told Newsweek the gap is not just about dollars and cents.
"Mortgage underwriting rules reward steady, uninterrupted income**—**that sounds neutral, but it isn’t," Stearns said. "If a woman takes a caregiving pause, goes on maternity leave, or shifts to part-time work, much of that income may not be viewed favorably until there’s a two-year track record. The result is that strong applicants often get sidelined because life isn’t perfectly linear."
Stearns pointed to structural workplace dynamics highlighted in McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace study, noting: "Layer that with the ‘broken rung’ [in the corporate ladder] … women experience fewer first promotions, slower income growth, and it’s easy to see how women face more headwinds at work, and when trying to buy a home."
Cultural and social factors appear to play a role too. Utah, for example, had the nation’s widest gender gap in application rates—30.2 percent of sole applicants were men, compared to just 13.4 percent women. The study notes Utah’s "culture, which historically emphasizes traditional family structures," may make sole homeownership less common for women.
Still, the disparities aren’t limited to culturally conservative states. Karen Mayfield, national origination manager at Multiply Mortgage, told Newsweek that "the geography here isn’t random … Michigan and Wyoming are in there too [among the states where women are more likely to be denied a mortgage than men]. So, it’s not just a Southern thing. That tells me income gaps alone don’t explain it."
Mayfield added: "One big factor is human bias anywhere in the chain. It takes just one person, a loan officer, processor, or underwriter, to not push for an exception or to skip escalating a borderline call."
Mayfield also said that credit profiles disproportionately affect women post-divorce. "Many women try to be conservative and avoid debt, then use debit cards. Debit does not build credit history. If a husband kept one solo, long-tenured card, he walks away with the stronger file."
Mayfield said removing bias from the loan approval process is key to closing these gaps. "Bottom line—income is part of the story, but bias and credit file dynamics are doing real work in the background," she added.
10 States Where 'Sole' Women Are Less Likely To Be Denied a Mortgage
- Alaska = 5.8 percent denial rate for women vs. 6.5 percent for men (- 0.7 percent difference)
- Hawaii = 10.5 percent for women vs. 10.9 percent for men (- 0.4 percent difference)
- Vermont = 10.4 percent for women vs. 10.7 percent for men (-0.3 percent difference)
- Maine = 10.8 percent for women vs. 10.9 percent for men (- 0.1 percent difference)
- Rhode Island = 9.3 percent for women vs. 9.4 percent for men (- 0.1 percent difference)
- Massachusetts = 9.5 percent for women vs. 9.3 percent for men (0.2 percent difference)
- Connecticut = 9.8 percent for women vs. 9.5 percent for men (0.3 percent difference)
- New Jersey = 10.5 percent for women vs. 9.9 percent for men (0.6 percent difference)
- Washington state = 8.9 percent for women vs. 8 percent for men (0.9 percent difference)
- California = 11.4 percent for women vs. 10.4 percent for men (1 percent difference)
Source: A listing based on a study by LendingTree that analyzed 2024 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data for home purchase loans on principal residences, retrieved on August 13, 2025. Borrowers with no co-borrower were classified as "sole."
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