Half of U.S. Renters Can No Longer Afford Housing

Sleeping on a benchPhoto byJohn Moeses BauanonUnsplash

A newly released report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University found that since the pandemic spike in rental prices in 2022, fully half of renters pay more than 30% of their income for housing, which includes rent and utilities.

Nearly half of that half pay over 50%, making that group even more cost-burdened, often having to choose between paying the rent or the utility bill. This puts many people only a paycheck or two away rom homelessness.

Of the people who make $30,000 or less per year, 83% were facing desperate choices, even when living in a cheaper neighborhood, quality of the area may be low, commute distance and costs higher.

Homelessness is at a record high, driven by rental cost increases. Cooling housing markets and increased construction does little to help low end income renters. More people can qualify for housing assistance as a result, but those programs are chronically underfunded.

Perhaps if we spent more tax dollars on helping Americans in need of housing, food, and medical treatment, and less on smart bombs and billion dollar fighters, the problem would become manageable.