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Despite Rising Incomes, the Share of Cost -Burdened
<br />Renters Remains High
<br />Percent
<br />52
<br />110
<br />105
<br />100
<br />95
<br />90
<br />95
<br />80
<br />2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016
<br />W Median Heater ITrump treft scale) � Median Rental Cost (Left scale)
<br />s.I Cast -Burdened Share of Benters(Right apple)
<br />Notes', Median costs and household incomes are a constant 2915 dollars, adjusted for inflation using the
<br />CPI U for All Items. Housing costs include cash rent and utilities. Cost burdened households pay more than
<br />30% of income for housing. Households with zero or negative income are assumed to have severe burdens,
<br />while households paying no cash rent are assumed to he without burdens. Indexed values represent
<br />cumulative percent change.
<br />Source'. JCHS tabulations of US Census Bureau, American Community Surveys,
<br />50
<br />48
<br />46
<br />44
<br />42
<br />40
<br />38
<br />GEOGRAPHY OF COST BURDENS
<br />Despite declines in the majority of states between 2015 and
<br />2016, large shares of renters across the country are housing cost
<br />burdened. Indeed, the shares in California, Colorado, Florida,
<br />Hawaii, and New York range from 51 percent to 54 percent,
<br />although for different reasons. For example, renters in Colorado,
<br />Florida, and New York have relatively moderate median incomes
<br />but face high housing costs. In contrast, renters in California and
<br />Hawaii have high incomes but even higher housing costs, with
<br />both rents and incomes ranking in the top five in the country.
<br />Alaska is currently the most affordable state, with the cost-bri
<br />dened share of renters at 37 percent. Although housing costs in
<br />Alaska are the sixth highest nationwide, median renter income
<br />is the second highest.
<br />Lower housing costs, however, do not mean greater affordabil-
<br />ity, Although median housing costs in Alabama, Kentucky, Maine,
<br />Mississippi, and West Virginia are in the bottom fifth for the nation,
<br />the shares of cost -burdened renters in these states are above 41
<br />percent. The states with the smallest shares of cost -burdened
<br />renters are located primarily in the Great Plains region—includ-
<br />ing Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming—where
<br />median housing costs are low and renter populations are small. But
<br />even in these states, more than one-third of renters have housing
<br />cost burdens.
<br />t
<br />.Ir 4fri 4,
<br />While Most Common in Large Metros, Cost Burdens
<br />Are Widespread in Markets of All Sizes
<br />Thu a so no s of 0 a l l ars Pe rc e in
<br />4 60
<br />Largest9 Matins Large Metres Mid -Sita Metros Sntall Metros Rural Areas
<br />@ver 5 million) 0-5millionl 1150000-Irellead (10,000-156,000) (Less than 10,000)
<br />Population Size
<br />PI Medan Household Inoarea 1Left soaIs) 0 Median Housing Costs ILeft sea le)
<br />— She roof Cost -Burdened Renters IBlghtsocial
<br />50
<br />40
<br />30
<br />20
<br />Notes. Household income is monthly. Housing costs are monthly and include cash rent and utilities. Cost -burdened
<br />households pay more than 30% of income for housba. Households with zero or negative income are assumed to
<br />have severe burdens, while households paying no cash rent ere assumed to be without burdens. Small metros
<br />Include micmpolitan areas with populations between 10,000 and 50,000.
<br />Seeme', JCHS tabulations of US Censer Bureau, 2016 American Community Survey l -Year Estimates using the
<br />Missouri Census Data Center MABLE/Geoconl4,
<br />Cost -burdened renters live in communities of all sizes, but finding
<br />affordable housing in larger metro areas is particularly challeng-
<br />ing. About half (51 percent) of renter households in the nation's
<br />nine largest metros pay more than 30 percent of income for hous-
<br />ing (Figure 27). The median monthly housing cost in these areas
<br />is $1,200 while the median renter income is $3,600. Among this
<br />group of nine metros, Miami has the highest shares of cost -bur-
<br />dened renters at 61 percent. The shares of cost -burdened renters
<br />are slightly lower in large (47 percent), mid-size (47 percent), and
<br />small metros (42 percent). Small metros have the lowest median
<br />housing costs of any urbanized areas at $720 and the lowest
<br />median incomes at $2,400.
<br />From 2011 to 2016, the cost -burdened shares of renters declined
<br />in 220 out of the nation's 275 mid-size and larger metros (80
<br />percent), but primarily because increasing numbers of moderate -
<br />and higher -income households had entered the rental market.
<br />The number of cost -burdened renters decreased in only 46 per-
<br />cent of these metros over this period.
<br />In 63 of the nation's 658 small metros (10 percent), more than half of
<br />renters were housing cost burdened in 2016. About two-thirds of small
<br />metros with majority shares of cost -burdened renters are in the South
<br />and West. Meanwhile, the number of cost -burdened renters in 385
<br />small metros (59 percent) fell between 2011 and 2016.
<br />27
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