Severe housing costs

25% of U.S. renters pay the majority of their household income on housing costs. In Louisiana and Florida, it’s 29% of renters.

Severe housing cost burdens by county, 2017-21 (5-yr average)

Percent of renter households paying half or more of household income on housing costs

Source: Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 2017-21.

From 2017-21, at least 1 in 4 renters in several Southern states (Louisiana: 29%, Florida: 29%, West Virginia: 25%, Mississippi: 25%, and South Carolina: 25%) paid at least half of their total household income toward housing costs. Median rent prices reached record highs in 2022, peaking in August at $2,053 per month.¹ Having to spend the majority of their income on rent means less resources for families to cover food, clothing, medical care, educational needs, and other necessities.^2,3 The growth in rent prices has drastically outpaced growth in household income. Between 2001 and 2021, median household income increased by only 3%, whereas median rent prices increased by 18%, more than 6 times that amount.⁴ As more families are burdened with rent costs and limited savings, home ownership, a crucial means to building household wealth, becomes a distant part of the American Dream.⁵

Housing costs burdens disproportionately affect Black and Hispanic renters. Since 2001, these renter households hold the highest share of those who spend a significant portion of their income on rent, both hovering around 50-60% over the years. In comparison, about 40% of white renters are considered cost burdened.⁶ Evidence of housing discrimination in the U.S. still remains. A 2018 study found that Black households were more likely to pay higher rent prices than their white counterparts for identical housing in the same neighborhoods.⁷

1. “Rental Market Tracker: Rent Growth Slowed for Seventh Straight Month in December”. Katz. Redfin. January, 2023. https://www.redfin.com/news/redfin-rental-report-december-2022/

2. “Housing Cost Burden, Material Hardship, and WellBeing”. Shamsuddin, Campbell. Housing Policy Debate. March, 2021. https://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/Housing-Cost-Burden-Material-Hardship-and-Well-Being.pdf

3. “The Rent Eats First – Rental Housing Unaffordability in the US”. Airgood-Obrycki, Hermann, and Wedeen. Joint Center for Housing Studies. January, 2021. https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/research/files/harvard_jchs_rent_eats_first_airgood-obrycki_hermann_wedeen_2021.pdf

4. “Addressing the Affordable Housing Crisis Requires Expanding Rental Assistance and Adding Housing Units”. Bailey. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. October, 2022. https://www.cbpp.org/research/housing/addressing-the-affordable-housing-crisis-requires-expanding-rental-assistance-and 

5. “Home prices are now rising much faster than incomes, studies show”. Dickler. CNBC. November, 2021. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/home-prices-are-now-rising-much-faster-than-incomes-studies-show.html

6. “Black and Hispanic Renters Face Greatest Threat of Eviction in Pandemic”. Wedeen. Joint Center for Housing Studies. January, 2021. https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/black-and-hispanic-renters-face-greatest-threat-eviction-pandemic

7. “Racial Rent Differences in U.S. Housing Markets”. Early, Carrillo, and Olsen. June, 2018. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3200655