Many cities are facing an affordability crisis when it comes to renting. In some places, renters are faced with paying more than 50 percent of their income to housing. And the problem stands to get much worse, according to AppFolio, a cloud-based property management software company. By 2025, about 16 million people in the U.S. will be considered rent-burdened, the firm says.
AppFolio culled data from Axiometrics, an independent rental research firm, to analyze effective rent growth and average monthly rent figures in the 20 largest cities. Affordability calculations were made based on the percentage of average monthly household income that is put toward the average monthly apartment rent. (Note: The average monthly cost to rent an apartment listed is based on all units, not just one-bedroom apartments.)
Here’s how much renters are devoting from their paychecks on rent:
- New York, N.Y.: 59% (the percentage of monthly income spent on rent)
- Miami, Fla.: 53%
- Los Angeles, Calif.: 47%
- San Francisco, Calif.: 36%
- Boston, Mass.: 45.5%
- Philadelphia, Pa.: 43%
- Detroit, Mich.: 39%
- Chicago, Ill.: 35%
- Baltimore, Md.: 33%
- Seattle, Wash.: 30%
- Minneapolis, Minn.: 29%
- Portland, Ore.: 29%
- Denver, Colo.: 28%
- Washington, D.C.: 27%
- Atlanta: 23%
- Austin, Texas: 23%
- Phoenix, Ariz.: 22%
- Indianapolis, Ind.: 21%
- Raleigh, N.C.: 21%
- Las Vegas, Nev.: 20%
Source: “How Affordable Are These 20 Popular U.S. Cities, Really?” AppFolio (Jan. 31, 2017)
