The U.S. States Where Renters Are Under the Most Financial Pressure

Renting in America has gotten significantly harder as wages have risen in many parts of the country, but rents have risen faster, and the gap between what people earn and what they owe on the first of the month has widened, as the data clearly show.

ConsumerAffairs compiled the research behind this list, pulling together metrics that most directly measure renters' success, such as the median rent and the typical share of income spent on rent. The result is a state-by-state look at where renters feel the most pressure.

The states at the top of this list won't even necessarily be all of the ones you might expect, as high-cost coastal markets are represented, but so are states in the South and Midwest where incomes have not kept pace with a rental market that moved higher after 2020 and has never fully corrected.

• Median rent cost: $1,110
• Typical share of income spent on rent: 30.4%
• Affordability rank: 16

• Median rent cost: $2,084
• Typical share of income spent on rent: 33%
• Affordability rank: 44

• Median rent cost: $1,680
• Typical share of income spent on rent: 33.1%
• Affordability rank: 38

• Median rent cost: $1,803
• Typical share of income spent on rent: 32%
• Affordability rank: 36

• Median rent cost: $1,076
• Typical share of income spent on rent: 29%
• Affordability rank: 14

• Median rent cost: $905
• Typical share of income spent on rent: 23.7%
• Affordability rank: 9

• Median rent cost: $1,450
• Typical share of income spent on rent: 32.5%
• Affordability rank: 33

• Median rent cost: $1,362
• Typical share of income spent on rent: 31%
• Affordability rank: 27

• Median rent cost: $1,391
• Typical share of income spent on rent: 33.2%
• Affordability rank: 29

• Median rent cost: $1,275
• Typical share of income spent on rent: 28.4%
• Affordability rank: 12

• Median rent cost: $1,298
• Typical share of income spent on rent: 27.1%
• Affordability rank: 15

• Median rent cost: $1,762
• Typical share of income spent on rent: 34.7% (third highest)
• Affordability rank: 48

• Median rent cost: $1,971
• Typical share of income spent on rent: 33.1% (10th highest)
• Affordability rank: 46

• Median rent cost: $1,067
• Typical share of income spent on rent: 31.6%
• Affordability rank: 20

• Median rent cost: $1,543
• Typical share of income spent on rent: 32.1%
• Affordability rank: 43

• Median rent cost: $1,669
• Typical share of income spent on rent: 37.4% (highest)
• Affordability rank: 50 (out of 50)