Many Tampa Bay residents spend most of their paychecks on rent

Nearly 30% of Tampa Bay renters are spending more than half their income on housing, according to new Census data.

Why it matters: An excessive rent burden can make it harder to afford other basic needs, like groceries and transportation — or to save for a down payment to buy a home.

By the numbers: Florida is home to several especially rent-burdened metros, including Port St. Lucie (where 36.6% of renters are spending more than half their income on rent), Cape Coral (35.1%) and Palm Bay (34.3%).

• That could be due to the state's large number of retirees, who may have relatively less current income.
• On the other side are Ogden, Utah (17.9%), Northwest Arkansas (18%) and Wichita, Kansas (18.7%).
• That's according to the 2023 1-year American Community Survey, and among metros with at least 200,000 households.

Zoom in: Housing affordability is a crisis in Tampa Bay and across Florida, in part because costs are climbing without wages keeping pace.

• According to an analysis by Zillow , rents in the Tampa Metro area climbed by 50% between 2019 and 2023 — while wages rose only about 15%.
• That's the widest gap of any metropolitan area in the country.

Between the lines: Geography is only part of the equation here — race plays a role, too.

• 30.6% of Black renters are spending more than half their income on rent, compared to 23.4% of white renters.

Stunning stat: The real median gross cost of renting — rent plus utility/energy costs — grew faster annually (+3.8%) than real median home values (+1.8%) last year for the first time in a decade, per the Census Bureau.