• The typical U.S. renter household spent 30.3% of its income on rent in August, just over the 30% threshold at which a household is considered rent burdened with limited income left to pay for other household costs.
• The nation’s white and Asian households spent notably less of their incomes on rent (28.6% and 26.0%, respectively) than Black and Latinx households (34.0% and 32.1% respectively).
• Across all races and markets analyzed, Black renters in San Diego are the most rent burdened, spending more than half (almost 53%) of their income on rent.

Households that spend 30% or more of their income on rent are considered “housing cost burdened,” left with little leftover income after paying for housing and taxes to cover other costs like food, transportation, household bills and clothing. In August, the typical rent burden nationwide for all households was 30.3% — just over the cusp of being a burden. ​​But rent burdens are unequal across races, and while the nation’s white and Asian households typically spend below the 30% threshold (28.6% and 26.0%, respectively), Black and Latinx communities spend more – 34.0% and 32.1%, respectively.

Put another way: The typical black household only has 66% of its income left after rent, or $920 less per month (before taxes) than white households. As is often the case, the national figures mask wide variation across the nation’s largest metro areas, with some groups typically spending much more and others spending much less, according to a Zillow analysis of race, rent and income. 

Renters of Color Spend the Highest Share of Income on Rent in These Major Cities

Across all races and markets analyzed, Black renters in San Diego are the most rent burdened, spending more than half (52.6%) of their income on rent. The most unaffordable rental market for Latinx renters is Orlando, where Latinx households should expect to spend 42.0% of their income on rent. Even so, that 42.0% is still less than the Black household rent burden in three other metros – San Diego (as noted), Sacramento, and San Francisco. 

Miami is the least-affordable metro for both Asian and white households, requiring these renters to dig into their pockets to the tune of 39.8% and 35.1% of their incomes, respectively. It is important to keep in mind that these numbers represent the typical rent burden — many households will and do spend less. But many will and do spend much, much more.

Even in the Nation’s Most Affordable Metros, Many Renters Struggle

Even in the nation’s most-affordable metros, where rent burdens overall are generally low, Black renters are still paying the most, relatively speaking. In St. Louis, for example, the typical rent burden for all renting households is 24.1%, well below the national figure. But while white households in St. Louis spent just 22.0% percent of their income on rent in August, respectively, Black renters should have expected to spend 27.5%.

For Latinx households, Oklahoma City was the most-affordable metro, requiring only 20.5 percent of their earnings to be spent on rent. Cincinnati was the most-affordable market for Black renting households, but still required more than a quarter (25.7%) of their income to afford rent. While Black households in Cincinnati are not technically rent burdened, they are still spending more relative to white and Asian households in many areas.  While the 25.7% black affordability figure in Cincinnati  was the lowest for black households across all metros surveyed, there were 34 instances in which white, Asian and/or Latinx affordability was better across all combinations of metro and race.

How the Pandemic Has Impacted Rent Affordability

The ongoing pandemic that hit the U.S. in earnest beginning in Spring 2020 had a profound impact on renters and the rental market, in particular. Comparing rent burdens by race today across the nation’s largest markets compared to baseline pre-pandemic “norms” from 2019 reveal a number of markets where burdens have risen and fallen — sometimes widely — for Black, Latinx, Asian and white households. 

In Detroit, for example, rent affordability for the area’s Asian households improved the most between 2019 and 2021 among all race/metro combinations analyzed, from 24.0% in 2019 to just 15.7% in 2021. But in Miami-Fort Lauderdale, the Asian rent burden rose dramatically, from 24.8% to 39.8%, a more than 70 percent rise.

The rent burden for black renters in Columbus, Ohio improved markedly between 2019 and 2021 — from 30.7% to 28.6%, a modest improvement that still leaves local black households near the threshold of being considered housing cost burdened. In Sacramento, black rent affordability suffered notably over the same period, growing from 24.1% of income to 52.2% — leaving these households spending more than half of their monthly income on rent. 

No Silver Bullet

The wide disparities in housing affordability by race did not develop overnight, nor will they be alleviated with any one single simple fix or silver bullet. In many ways, the differences are the result of many years of overt and subtle systemic inequities in the housing market, including years of institutionalized redlining from which many communities are still recovering. These differences in housing have been both fueled by and fuel for wide racial differences in a number of other factors critical to social success, including educational achievement, income, access to credit and health.

But while a solution will not arrive overnight, there are some general antidotes to worsening housing affordability in general — first and foremost is the creation of more housing supply of all types to help combat the mismatch between supply and demand that is the primary driver of today’s rapidly rising housing costs. More specifically, a more diverse mix of housing types, including denser and/or more-affordable housing including townhomes and condominiums, has been proven to help create more diverse neighborhoods.