Half of US Tenants Are ‘Rent Burdened’

Roughly half of all American renters spend more than a third of their income on housing costs, according to data from the U.S. Census, with costs rising sharply since 2021. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, “the amount of housing that low-income renters can afford declined nationwide from 2019 to 2022, and that the trend has the biggest impact on extremely low-income Americans—a majority of whom live with disabilities, are caretakers for someone else, or are older adults.”

An article in the Lexington Herald Leader outlines how Kentucky compares to the rest of the country. “In Kentucky, where more than 579.1 thousand people rent their homes, 40.4% are considered rent-burdened, while 20.6% of renters are severely rent burdened.”

High rents not only make it difficult for renters to afford other household needs — they also trap renters in a cycle of tenancy by preventing them from saving for homeownership. And affordable housing is becoming less available for low-income renters, putting many at risk for eviction and homelessness.