<p>The cost of housing continues to strain American renters, especially in states with rapid population growth and limited housing supply.</p>

<p>This chart, <a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-the-most-rent-burdened-states-in-america/">via Visual Capitalist's Niccolo Conte,</a> ranks U.S. states by the share of renter households spending more than half of their income on rent—commonly known as being “severely rent-burdened.”</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Rent_Burden_by_State_SITE.jpg?itok=Bq_gOc-e" data-link-option="0" href="/s3/files/inline-images/Rent_Burden_by_State_SITE.jpg?itok=Bq_gOc-e"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="afde87a4-f878-4a95-b692-219b1a240008" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="652" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://zh-dev-046fffa0-2095-430f-bd04-a687fe941952.storage.googleapis.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Rent_Burden_by_State_SITE.jpg?itok=Bq_gOc-e" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /></picture></a></p>

<p><em>The data comes from the <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs">U.S. Census Bureau’s</a> American Community Survey (ACS) 2024 1-Year Estimates.</em></p>

<h2>America’s Highest Rent Burdens</h2>

<p>Across the country, roughly one in four renter households is severely burdened by rent. But in some states, that share climbs much higher.</p>

<table class="tablepress tablepress-id-6497" id="tablepress-6497"><thead><tr class="row-1"><th class="column-1">State</th>
			<th class="column-2">Share of households spending &gt;50% of household income on rent</th>
		</tr></thead><tbody class="row-striping row-hover"><tr class="row-2"><td class="column-1">Florida</td>
			<td class="column-2">30.1%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-3"><td class="column-1">Nevada</td>
			<td class="column-2">28.0%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-4"><td class="column-1">California</td>
			<td class="column-2">27.5%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-5"><td class="column-1">New York</td>
			<td class="column-2">26.9%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-6"><td class="column-1">Connecticut</td>
			<td class="column-2">26.2%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-7"><td class="column-1">Hawaii</td>
			<td class="column-2">25.9%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-8"><td class="column-1">Oregon</td>
			<td class="column-2">25.0%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-9"><td class="column-1">Rhode Island</td>
			<td class="column-2">24.8%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-10"><td class="column-1">New Jersey</td>
			<td class="column-2">24.8%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-11"><td class="column-1">Louisiana</td>
			<td class="column-2">24.8%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-12"><td class="column-1">Michigan</td>
			<td class="column-2">24.7%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-13"><td class="column-1">Massachusetts</td>
			<td class="column-2">24.5%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-14"><td class="column-1">Georgia</td>
			<td class="column-2">24.4%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-15"><td class="column-1">Pennsylvania</td>
			<td class="column-2">24.1%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-16"><td class="column-1">Maryland</td>
			<td class="column-2">24.1%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-17"><td class="column-1">District of Columbia</td>
			<td class="column-2">23.8%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-18"><td class="column-1">Colorado</td>
			<td class="column-2">23.8%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-19"><td class="column-1">Texas</td>
			<td class="column-2">23.8%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-20"><td class="column-1">South Carolina</td>
			<td class="column-2">23.8%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-21"><td class="column-1">Arizona</td>
			<td class="column-2">23.5%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-22"><td class="column-1">New Mexico</td>
			<td class="column-2">23.4%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-23"><td class="column-1">Illinois</td>
			<td class="column-2">23.1%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-24"><td class="column-1">North Carolina</td>
			<td class="column-2">23.0%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-25"><td class="column-1">Ohio</td>
			<td class="column-2">22.7%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-26"><td class="column-1">Washington</td>
			<td class="column-2">22.7%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-27"><td class="column-1">Delaware</td>
			<td class="column-2">22.7%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-28"><td class="column-1">Indiana</td>
			<td class="column-2">22.3%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-29"><td class="column-1">Virginia</td>
			<td class="column-2">22.3%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-30"><td class="column-1">Vermont</td>
			<td class="column-2">22.0%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-31"><td class="column-1">Mississippi</td>
			<td class="column-2">21.9%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-32"><td class="column-1">Idaho</td>
			<td class="column-2">21.8%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-33"><td class="column-1">New Hampshire</td>
			<td class="column-2">21.8%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-34"><td class="column-1">Minnesota</td>
			<td class="column-2">21.6%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-35"><td class="column-1">Maine</td>
			<td class="column-2">21.5%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-36"><td class="column-1">Tennessee</td>
			<td class="column-2">21.3%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-37"><td class="column-1">Alabama</td>
			<td class="column-2">21.1%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-38"><td class="column-1">Kentucky</td>
			<td class="column-2">20.5%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-39"><td class="column-1">West Virginia</td>
			<td class="column-2">20.2%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-40"><td class="column-1">Utah</td>
			<td class="column-2">20.2%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-41"><td class="column-1">Wisconsin</td>
			<td class="column-2">20.2%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-42"><td class="column-1">Missouri</td>
			<td class="column-2">20.1%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-43"><td class="column-1">Iowa</td>
			<td class="column-2">20.0%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-44"><td class="column-1">Nebraska</td>
			<td class="column-2">19.9%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-45"><td class="column-1">Oklahoma</td>
			<td class="column-2">19.6%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-46"><td class="column-1">Kansas</td>
			<td class="column-2">18.8%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-47"><td class="column-1">Arkansas</td>
			<td class="column-2">17.9%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-48"><td class="column-1">Montana</td>
			<td class="column-2">17.1%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-49"><td class="column-1">Wyoming</td>
			<td class="column-2">17.0%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-50"><td class="column-1">Alaska</td>
			<td class="column-2">16.6%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-51"><td class="column-1">North Dakota</td>
			<td class="column-2">15.7%</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-52"><td class="column-1">South Dakota</td>
			<td class="column-2">15.3%</td>
		</tr></tbody></table><p>Florida leads with <strong>30.1%</strong> of renters spending more than half their income on housing. Rents in Florida <a href="http://shimberg.ufl.edu/publications/2025_rental_market_study.pdf">increased</a> by nearly 40% between 2019 and 2023 due to high population growth and limited rental supply.</p>

<p>Other high-burden states include Nevada (28.0%) and California (27.5%) in the West. Overall, coastal states are prevalent in the top 10, including New York, Oregon, and Hawaii.</p>

<h4>Where Rent Pressure Is Lowest</h4>

<p>At the other end of the list, rental housing remains relatively affordable in parts of the Midwest and Great Plains.</p>

<p>States such as South Dakota (15.3%), North Dakota (15.7%), and Wyoming (17.0%) report the lowest shares of rent-burdened households. These states also see relatively slower growth in population and demand for rental housing.</p>

<h2>America’s Rent Problem</h2>

<p><strong>According to a <a href="https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/research/files/harvard_jchs_airgood-obrycki_et_al_renter_residual_income_2025.pdf">survey</a> of over 31 million households, housing is the single largest expense for renters in the United States.</strong></p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/hqdefault_29.jpg?itok=Pzq620GW" data-link-option="0" href="/s3/files/inline-images/hqdefault_29.jpg?itok=Pzq620GW"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="062525bb-25ef-440f-b89d-387f6a241473" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="375" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://zh-dev-046fffa0-2095-430f-bd04-a687fe941952.storage.googleapis.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/hqdefault_29.jpg?itok=Pzq620GW" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /></picture></a></p>

<p>Households that spend over <strong>30%</strong> of their household income on housing costs are considered “cost-burdened”, and nearly half of all renter households in the U.S. fall in this category. Those who spend over 50% of their income on rent and housing costs are considered severely rent-burdened, and almost one in five U.S. households are in this bracket.</p>

<p>Rental unaffordability remains an important challenge for millions of U.S. households, especially as inflation and housing prices <a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/housing-affordability-across-north-america-in-2025/">outpace</a> wage growth across the country.</p>

<p><em>If you enjoyed today’s post, check out <a href="https://www.voronoiapp.com/category/Top-20-Cities-With-Sky-High-Rent-in-2025--6607">The Top 20 Cities With Sky-High Rent in 2025</a> on the Voronoi app.</em></p>


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