According to ApartmentList.com, a San Francisco-based apartment-finding search engine, 40 percent of American households rent their homes, and one-fourth of these renters have no intention of becoming homeowners, GlobeSt.com reported.

“The fact that a quarter of renters plan to never own a home indicates to us that the definition of the American Dream is changing, said John Kobs, CEO and co-founder of Apartment List. “While the resale market slowly recovers, it seems that more Americans are embracing renting for the long term.”

Rental rates nationwide are also on the rise, according to the search engine’s first “Rentonomics” report, which uses both pricing and survey data to track the U.S. rental economy.

A majority of states have demonstrated an increase in asking rents since January 2011, and 34 out of the 45 states the study analyzed showed rising rents.

Rents in Iowa have increased 18.9 percent over the last two years, according to the report. Click here for more.