A record number of renter households struggle to afford housing costs.

Half of renter households in the United States now spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, according to a study from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. As Jennifer Ludden explains in an article for NPR, this is a record number of households that are considered ‘cost burdened.’
“Since 2019, the biggest jump in unaffordability was for households making $30,000 to $74,999 a year. Even among those working full time, a third of all renters were still cost-burdened,” the study found. Of renters making less than $30,000 per year, 83 percent are cost-burdened. Accordingly, homelessness rates have spiked around the country, especially now that many pandemic-era eviction moratoriums and other protections have lapsed.
Ludden points out that “The double-digit rent hikes of the past few years are finally easing, and rents have even come down in some cities that saw the biggest jumps. A record number of apartments are also under construction, and as they come online, tight vacancy rates will loosen.” But the construction boom likely won’t bring costs down to pre-pandemic levels.
FULL STORY: Housing is now unaffordable for a record half of all U.S. renters, study finds

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