The Fact
In 2024, 22.7 million U.S. renter households — 49% of all renter households — spent more than 30% of their income on housing.
WHAT “COST BURDENED” MEANS
A household is generally described as housing-cost burdened when it spends more than 30% of income on housing costs. The 30% threshold is a widely used affordability benchmark; it is not a law of personal finance and does not mean every household has identical expenses.
What This Means
By this measure, housing-cost burden was not confined to a small group at the edge of the rental market. Roughly half of renter households were above the conventional affordability threshold in 2024.
Sources
- Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, America’s Rental Housing 2026 and related 2026 housing-affordability reporting using U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data.