Nearly half of US renters now spend over 30% of income on housing

As inflation made prices for consumer goods more expensive, 21 million renter households in the U.S. also been spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs recently, according to the U.S. Census Bureau .

New data from the bureau from the 2023 American Community Survey (ACS) released Thursday revealed that this figure represents nearly half of the 42.5 million renter households in the country. Households that more than 30% of income on housing are considered “cost-burdened” according to the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Molly Ross, a survey statistician with the U.S. Census Bureau said that the median monthly cost of housing for renters rose from $1,354 to $1,406 (after adjusting for inflation) from 2022 to 2023. Per the bureau, the largest increase in gross rental costs since 2011 was recorded last year. Rent and utility cots increased faster than home values.

For reference, the median weekly earnings for the nation’s 119.9 million full-time wage and salary workers were $1,143 in the second quarter of 2024 (not seasonally adjusted), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. A report from Zillow and StreetEasy released this May found that rents grew faster than wages in about half of major U.S. metro areas in 2023.

Ross also noted that certain demographics were especially burdened with housing costs.

“Within Black or African American alone renter households, or households where the householder identified as being only Black or African American, 4.6 million (56.2%) paid more than 30% of their income on housing costs in 2023,” said the bureau.

Audacy covered the stress of rising costs in-depth in “ Maxed out: Surviving or thriving in turbulent times - An Audacy Conversation ” earlier this month.

Last month, the U.S. Justice Department announced it would sue real estate company RealPage for alleged price-fixing measures through its algorithmic pricing software. This antitrust suit includes the attorneys general of eight states and it accuses the company of colluding and setting rents above market rate.

“The Department of Justice is arguing is this real page technology has allowed landlords to inflate rents higher than they should be, that they are not competing in a fair, open marketplace for the lowest price, which means renters pay more,” said Scott Macfarlane, CBS News Congressional Correspondent, in an interview with Audacy’s KCBS Radio . However, he also said there appears to be a “potentially lengthy, fierce legal battle ahead.”

Renters may have had a had a higher median housing cost as a percentage of income (31.0%) compared to homeowners (21.1% for homeowners with a mortgage and 11.5% for those without a mortgage) last year, costs are also high for homeowners. According to the Census Bureau, in 2023 18.8 million homeowners spent more than 30% on their housing costs. Audacy reported this summer that the cost to own a home hit its highest point since 2007 .

In particular, the bureau identified homeowner’s insurance as a cost impacting households. It found that 5.4 million of the 85.7 million homeowners in the United States paid $4,000 a year or more for homeowner’s insurance as of last year. In July, Audacy reported that prices still appeared to be climbing

This month, we also reported that 84% of young voters believe it is harder for them to own a home than it was for their parents. However, in addition to the DOJ’s case against rental price fixing, a recent settlement with National Association of Realtors now gives home sellers more bargaining power.