The Fact
In 2024, 12.1 million U.S. renter households were severely housing-cost burdened, meaning they spent more than 50% of their income on rent and utilities.
WHAT “SEVERELY COST BURDENED” MEANS
The conventional housing-affordability framework describes households spending more than 30% of income on housing as cost burdened and households spending more than 50% as severely cost burdened.
What This Means
Spending more than half of household income on housing leaves less income available for food, transportation, healthcare, savings, childcare, debt payments, and other household needs. The statistic measures the scale of that condition; it does not identify its cause.
Sources
- Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, America’s Rental Housing 2026 and related housing-affordability reporting using U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data.