The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) released a new report that finds 65 percent of working-age renter households in the U.S. cannot afford basic necessities after paying rent.
- This percentage is a significantly higher estimate than the 50 percent classified as cost-burdened under the traditional 30-percent-of-income measure, capturing an additional 5.3 million renter households.
- The study finds on average, renter households face annual housing costs of $18,000 and require an estimated $57,000 more to meet other essential expenses like food, healthcare, transportation, and childcare.
- The burden is especially severe for renters earning under $45,000, over 90 percent of whom fall short of a modest standard of living.
- Residual income burdens (including both rent and basic necessity expenses) are also most prevalent in rural and lower-cost states, where wages are too low to meet total living expenses.
