The share of residents' rent-related expenses is at an all-time high. According to Apartment List, 22 million rental households—as of 2023—spend more than 30% of their income on rent, a 226,000 jump from 2022 and a new record pace.
Just over a quarter of renters spend at least half of their income on rent, or about 11.2 million households. Overall, 51.8% of households are considered "rent burdened," or spending at least 30% of their income on rent. The cost-burden rate peaked in 2011 at slightly more than 53%; it declined to 48.4% by 2019.
Cost-burden rates are highest in the Sun Belt region, mainly Florida and California—Baton Rouge, La., was the only non- Florida or California metro in the top 10 facing the highest cost-burden rates. Fresno and Riverside were the only California metros in the top 10. The overall rent-burden rate in Cape Coral, Fla., was 67%.
Des Moines, Iowa, had the lowest overall rent-burden rate at 43%, tied with Toledo, Ohio, Fayetteville, Ark., and Winston-Salem, N.C.