Only one-fifth of Denver metro’s millennial renters are on track to purchase a home, and 12% say they expect to be renters for life.

A new report from Apartment List found that most millennials – defined as persons age 23-28 – who rent want to own homes, but overwhelmingly cannot afford to buy. The report defines being “on track” to buy as affording a 10% down payment on a median-priced home within five years.

Denver’s percentage of millennials in that category was lower than that of most other major cities. Thirty-four percent of young adults in Minneapolis were on track, as were 31% of respondents in the much more expensive city of New York.

The survey captured the responses of over 10,000 millennial renters. Forty percent of respondents nationally said that they enjoy the flexibility of renting, and nearly as many said that they prefer to avoid the costs and responsibilities of maintaining a home.

Nearly half of millennials have saved nothing for a down payment on a home. Another one-third have saved fewer than $5,000.

Metropolitan University of Denver Professor Darrin Duber-Smith told The Denver Channel that the cost barrier for millennials was no surprise.

“They’re making 40% less than my generation, Generation X, was making at this time, and 20% less than the Baby Boomers,” Duber-Smith said.