For the third year in a row, a record number of renters can’t afford their housing costs

Written By: Mollie Bryant

(NATIONAL) As lawmakers consider a massive bill that would disproportionately cut programs for low-income Americans, while providing tax breaks to the wealthy, a record number of Americans can’t afford rent.

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Recent data compiled in a report released last week from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University shows that the number of renters who are cost-burdened—spending 30% or more on rent and other housing costs—broke the record for the third year in a row. The US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey found that in 2023, 22.6 million renters, or 50% of tenants, couldn’t afford their housing costs.

President Donald Trump’s administration has been meeting this challenge by making cuts to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that are challenging the agency’s ability to perform essential tasks, and a proposed budget for the agency would further slash its allocation for the next fiscal year in half.

Those proposed cuts include eliminating funding for public housing, housing choice vouchers and other assistance programs, which HUD spokesperson Kasey Lovett described to Streetlight last week as the agency’s funding “being reimagined.”

During a press conference last week on the Joint Center for Housing Studies’ new report, Susan M. Collins, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, said rapid rent increases over the past five years have strained household budgets and put homeownership out of reach for many Americans.

“But this affordability crisis extends far beyond individual hardship,” she said. “It constrains labor mobility, it limits the ability of businesses to hire, it affects where businesses choose to expand operations and it reduces the wealth-building potential that homeownership has historically provided to American families.”

Daniel McCue, senior research associate for the Joint Center for Housing Studies, said after paying rent, low-income tenants have an average of $250 left each month to cover the rest of their expenses.

“That’s $250 to pay for food, for gas, for everything, let alone for savings,” he said. “So that puts these households in a very precarious financial situation.”

In Grants Pass, Oregon, 59% of renters were cost-burdened in 2023, according to the American Community Survey.

“People who are cost-burdened are going to struggle to save up to the point where they can become homeowners,” said Amber Neeck, housing and neighborhood specialist for the City of Grants Pass.

Homes are affordable for the average homebuyer in just three of the nation’s 100 largest metro areas

The general rule is that a buyer can afford a home with a price that’s three times their income. Last year, the median price for a single-family home in the United States reached a record high of about $412,500.

That price is five times the median household income, shoving many first-time buyers out of the market. Last year, out of the 100 largest metro areas in the country, only three had median home prices that were three times their median incomes, a jaw-dropping decline from 75 metros meeting that ratio in 1990.

Inability to afford a down payment is the main reason households continue to rent, a 2024 Federal Reserve report said. Last year, a buyer needed about $27,000 to cover a 3.5% downpayment and closing costs.

Then a buyer would need to earn at least $126,700 per year to afford mortgage payments on a house at the median price. Those also hit a high, reaching about $2,600 per month, a figure that’s 40% higher than it was in 1990, the report said. Median incomes, on the other hand, have risen 26% since 1990, according to Census Bureau data.

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In Oklahoma, 48% of renters were cost-burdened in 2023, according to the American Community Survey.

“With the costs of everything rising, most low-income people are on such a strict, finite budget that even if the economy was doing well, just one missed bill or unexpected expense can start you on a wild spiral,” said Brad Senters, manager of eviction prevention for Mental Health Association Oklahoma’s Shelterwell program. “Even if you’re really good at budgeting, and costs jump up, that can have a huge, huge impact.”

These tight budgets put renters at risk of eviction, which complicates getting housing in the future. Senters said that in a Shelterwell survey from last year, about 60% of landlords said they wouldn’t rent to someone with an eviction on their record, even if it was dismissed.

“If you’re already struggling income-wise, a lot of people want multiple times your income to even rent to you, and everyone’s fighting for the same places anyway,” he said. “A lot of these people have to lower their standards as far as habitability or where they’re willing to live in order just to have a roof over their head.”

The American Community Survey found 24% of homeowners also were cost-burdened, with low-income and older homeowners most likely to be unable to afford their housing costs. One culprit behind that figure is home insurance, for which costs rose 57% from 2019 to 2024.

Neeck said homeowners who are cost-burdened are at risk of falling behind on mortgage payments and entering foreclosure, which can change the local makeup of houses because those homeowners often can’t afford to keep up with routine maintenance.

“So those homes start to deplete in a way that maybe the homes aren’t mortgageable,” she said. “You see them hit the market as a cash-only sale, which means that homes are less available for the average homebuyer and more available for someone who’s coming in to maybe flip things.”

Middle housing treads a path to homeownership

For years, renters across the country—especially millennial and Gen Z tenants—have told Streetlight that ever-growing costs to rent and buy are dashing their hopes for homeownership. That’s in part because their incomes aren’t rising alongside home prices.

From 2019 to 2025, home prices grew a mind-boggling 60%, the Joint Center for Housing Studies report said. Census Bureau data shows that median household incomes actually fell by about $600 from 2019 to 2023, the most recent year with available data, to land at about $80,600.

“I’m sort of appalled at how many millions of homebuyers are being knocked out of the market,” said Clark Ziegler, executive director of Massachusetts Housing Partnership. “But what I‘m really focused on is what’s the price point we can get down to reach more of those people? We know what people make. What are we doing to bring those costs down?”

Wd ways to meet people where they are, produce products they can afford and shake up this system, and I think we’re just nowhere close to where we need to be in doing that.”

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But many communities are making a dent in this problem with zoning updates and incentives geared to nudge developers to build more types of housing beyond the increasingly unattainable single-family home.

In 2019, Oregon lawmakers approved a measure requiring cities with populations of at least 25,000 to allow all middle housing types in residential-zoned areas. That includes “plexes”—du, tri and quadplexes—cottage clusters and townhouses.

In 2022, the Grants Pass City Council updated the city’s development code to allow those housing types on any lots zoned for residential use.

“We are starting to see developers building plexes that are split up to sell so you can buy a townhome, which is usually more affordable than buying a single-family home, so that could be a starter home,” Neeck said. “You move in, you stay there for a few years and then you can save up again because once you get into ownership, it kind of locks your monthly payments for the most part.”

For some buyers, a townhome is where they want to be, but for others, Neeck said, townhomes can help them save for and eventually purchase a single-family home.

“If the stepping stone of owning and being in a townhome for a couple of years is an avenue to get you to that dream house, then we want to make sure that avenue is available so people can get to their end goals,” she said.

Contact Streetlight editor Mollie Bryant at 405-990-0988 or bryant@streetlightnews.org. Follow her reporting on Bluesky or by joining our newsletter.

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