Average U.S. rent burden reached 30 percent for the first time ever at the end of 2022, according to a recent analysis.
The national average rent-to-income (RTI) in the final quarter of 2024 rose 1.5% from year-ago and 0.2% from Q3, according to recent analysis by Moody’s. It’s the first time RTI has reached 30% since Moddy’s began tracking the data more than 20 years ago.
An online article, linked below, shares more details from the report, including context of how rent-to-income trends break down at the regional level and how they shifted during the pandemic.
According to the analysis, Nevada (+4.9%), Florida (+4.8%), Alabama (+4.2%), South Carolina (+4.2%), Arizona (+4.1%), and New Mexico (4.0%) have experienced the highest increase in the state’s average rent burden over the past three years, due mostly to rental prices increases outpacing household income growth.
A few states have achieved recent relief from rent burden, however. RTI dropped in Maryland (-0.62%), Oklahoma (-0.49%), Arkansas (-0.16%), Minnesota (-0.08%), and Utah (-0.02%) over the course of 2022. In Q4, Georgia (-1.7%) and Maryland (-1.2%) both recorded average rent decline at the state level.
Read the full story: Key Takeaways from the 4th Quarter Housing Affordability Update
Miami Housing More Expensive Than New York City, Report Says
New data shows stratospheric housing costs in cities not named New York.
Coping With Rent Burden
The rent eats first, they say. But how do people survive when the rent also eats almost everything?
NYC Mayor Mamdani Backs Down on Expanded Rental Assistance Program, Citing $7 Billion Deficit
The new mayor had promised to expand the CityFHEPS rent assistance program to an additional 47,000 households.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
Satanic place names
From streams and lakes to valleys and canyons, I mapped more than 1,000 places named after the Devil.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority