Millions of Americans Are Squeezed by Rent: See How Your City Stacks Up

Photo-Illustration by Realtor.com; Photos: Getty Images (3)

More than 4 in 10 renting households are “burdened” by how much they’re paying in rent each month.

These tenants are putting more than 30% of their income toward housing costs, according to a new housing data report from the U.S. Census Bureau. The general rule is that people shouldn’t spend more than 30% of their earnings, before taxes, on housing.

That’s become more difficult to do. Rents have risen rapidly in the past few years. Nationally, tenants are paying about 25% for their rentals from 2016 through 2021, according to census data. However, incomes have increased only about 11% over the same period. (The rental data goes through only to 2021.)

In Miami-Dade County, more than 60% of the 450,000-plus renting households are paying more than 30% of their income to cover their housing. Across the country, in 1 out of every 17 counties, more than half of the renters are burdened by housing costs.

“We’ve heard for a while now that incomes were not keeping up with the increased cost of housing,” Molly Cromwell, a demographer in the Census Bureau’s Housing Statistics Branch, said in a statement. “With the most recent data, we can see just how many households were burdened by the cost of their housing.”

We wanted to dig into the numbers so you can see for yourself how rent-burdened various counties are around the country. Hover over the map below to learn about the portion of renters who are struggling with their housing costs in counties across the U.S.

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