Map Shows Where Rent Takes the Biggest Bite Out of Pay in America
A growing share of renters across the U.S. are spending large portions of their income on housing, and the affordability pressures are most severe in high-cost coastal states and major metro areas.
Based on Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Census data, Newsweek identified the states where the largest share of renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, a threshold widely used to define "cost burden."
Nationwide, around 49.7 percent of renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, according to the Census.
Why It Matters
Housing is typically the largest expense for most households, and when rent consumes too much income, it can crowd out spending on essentials.
Spending more than 30 percent of income on housing is generally seen as a "cost burden" by economists, while spending more than 50 percent is a "severe cost burden."
This can lead to long-term financial instability and increased risk of eviction or displacement. Due to this, many renters are facing stagnant wage growth relative to their rising housing costs, particularly in high-demand regions.
What To Know
Some states have price levels far above the national average, bringing along higher rents even as income fails to keep pace with the cost of living.
Which States Have Higher Rent and Lower Income, on Average?
Based on cost-burden rates and regional price levels, the following states consistently rank among the most strained. All of them have more than half of renters spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing:
- Florida-56.3 percent (spending more than 30 percent of income on rent)
- Nevada-52.8 percent
- California-52.5 percent
- Hawaii-52.1 percent
- Colorado-50.4 percent
These states have both high rent levels alongside overall elevated costs of living.
Oregon, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey came shortly after in terms of the share of renters spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing.
"Higher income areas also typically carry a much higher cost of living overall," Kevin Thompson, CEO of 9i Capital Group and host of the 9innings podcast, told Newsweek. "The consequence is many people are being pushed further away from where they work just to find affordable housing, and whatever savings they gain are often eaten up by longer commutes and higher gas prices."
The lower cost-burden states, relatively, tended to concentrate in the Midwest and South, where rents and prices in general are less expensive.
In Which States Is Rent Increasing and Decreasing?
Rents are rising fastest in the Midwest and Northeast, where limited housing supply has kept upward pressure on prices. In 2025, rents in the Midwest increased by about 6.1 percent, while the Northeast saw gains of around 4.6 percent, according to Rentometer.
Rent growth has slowed or shifted downward in parts of the South and West, where a surge in new apartment construction has increased supply. In 2026, rents declined by 1.3 percent in the South and 2.2 percent in Mountain-region states, according to Apartments.com data.
What's Driving the Financial Strain?
As rent increases outpace wage growth, many Americans are also facing limited housing supply in some high-demand areas.
Younger renters are being especially hit hard as recent graduates entering the workforce deal with lower starting wages than their elders. That has led to many looking for roommates and delaying homeownership altogether, experts say.
"Rent burden doesn’t just hurt this month. It kills long-term wealth," Michael Ryan, finance expert and founder of MichaelRyanMoney.com, told Newsweek. "Every dollar over 30 percent of income going to rent is a dollar not going to a 401(k), an emergency fund, or a down payment. These renters aren’t just stretched. They’re locked out of the wealth-building tools everyone else takes for granted."
What Happens Next
- Housing shortages are likely to remain in many regions.
- If wages rise faster, the share of renters spending at cost-burden levels could dissipate.
- This could cause mass migration to lower-cost areas or debt in the long run.
"Unfortunately, the result could be some renters in high-priced locations in the Northeast and West Coast to consider relocating to other areas further from their current apartments in a bid to save what additional cash they can," Alex Beene, financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek.
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This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 5:35 PM.