22.7 Million U.S. Renter Households Spent More Than 30% on Rent and Utilities

Nearly half of U.S. renter households spent more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities in 2024, while rents rose faster than renter incomes over the previous two decades.

The cost burden affected 22.7 million households, or 49% of all U.S. renter households. Another 12.1 million, or 26%, spent more than half their income on rent and utilities.

From 2001 to 2024, real renter incomes rose 9%, while rents increased 30%, a 21-percentage-point gap. A measure of lower-income households’ residual income fell 60% to $210. The figures add a renter-focused measure to the wider affordability picture.

A separate calculation put the time needed to save for a 5% down payment and closing costs at 11 years. It used a $321,500 home price, 2019 median renter-household income of $46,640 and an assumed annual savings rate of 5%.

That estimate used a different down-payment target from some available loan options. Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans can allow down payments as low as 3.5%. First-time buyers had a median down payment of 10% in a survey covering purchases from July 2024 through June 2025. Those figures describe different measures: a modeled savings period, a loan option and buyers’ reported down payments.