Housing costs have taken a toll on affordability, driving the number of “cost-burdened” households to new heights, according to an analysis based on Census Bureau data.
Across the country, there are now 21.8 million such renter households, more than ever before, and rates have risen in virtually every market.
Renters are considered “cost burdened” if they spend more than 30% of their income on rent, or “severely cost burdened” if they spend more than half of their income on rent.
Local takeaways in the report, from ApartmentList.com:
- More than half – 58%, or 297,000 households in the San Diego metro area – are cost-burdened, up from 56% four years ago.
- 30% of renter households in the San Diego metro are “severely” cost-burdened.
- Between 2019 and 2022 the median rent in San Diego metro increased by 16% while the median income of renter households increased by 19%
Three California areas, including San Diego, are in the top 5 for the highest percentage of cost-burdened households among the 50 largest metros in the U.S. The list is topped by two Florida metros:
- Miami, 64.6 %
- Orlando, 60.6%
- Riverside, 60.2%
- Sacramento, 59.1%
- San Diego, 58.3%
At the state level, Florida leads the way with 60.3% of renter households burdened by housing costs, followed by Hawaii, 57.8%, Nevada, 57.3%, California, 56% and Louisiana, 55.8%.
Overall, Census data indicates that the share of American renters who are cost-burdened has risen to the highest level since 2012, erasing improvements made in the recovery period that followed the Great Recession leading up to the beginning of the pandemic.
One driver of the problem is lagging incomes.
Nationally, cost-burdened households rose through the pandemic, from 48% of renters in 2019 to 52% in 2022.
Over that period rising rents exceeded income growth; from 2019 to 2022, nominal rents rose 19% while renter incomes climbed just 16%. In 2023 and beyond, this pattern would need to reverse to see an improvement in the numbers of those who are cost burdened.
