Nearly half are spending more than recommended on rent: U.S. Census Bureau

TAMPA, Fla. (WFTS) — According to an analysis by the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 21 million renter households spent more than 30% of their income on housing costs in 2023.

Data from the 2023 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year estimates found that nearly half (49.7%) of the 42.5 million renter households in the United States spend more than 30$ of their income on rent.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines cost-burdened households as spending more than 30% of their income on rent, mortgage payments, and other housing costs. Households spending more than 50% of their income on housing costs are considered severely cost-burdened.

Within Black or African American alone renter households, or households where the householder identified as being only Black or African American, 4.6 million (56.2%) paid more than 30% of their income on housing costs in 2023. Another 2.0 million (54.7%) Some Other Race alone renter households were cost-burdened, according to the Census data.

Among the other race groups:

• One million (43.4%) Asian alone renter households were cost-burdened.
• 10.4 million (46.7%) White alone renter households were cost-burdened.
• 229,000 (48.8%) American Indian or Alaska Native alone renter households were cost-burdened.
• 53,000 (51.7%) Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone renter households were cost-burdened. The share of Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone renters that were cost-burdened is not significantly different from American Indian or Alaska Native renter households, Some Other Race alone, Two or More Races, or Hispanic renter households.
• 2.8 million (51.4%) Two or More Races renter households were cost-burdened.
• 4.8 million (53.2%) Hispanic renter households were cost-burdened.

The new race tables included in the 2023 ACS, 1-year release also contain the number of severely cost-burdened households by householder race and ethnicity.
About 2.5 million (30.6%) Black alone and 1.1 million (28.8%) Some Other Race alone renter householders were severely cost-burdened according to the 2023 ACS, 1-year estimates.

Of the 2,862,973 rented households in Florida, 1,593,750, or 56%, pay more than 30% of their income, 843,468 pay more than half of their income, and 177,014 households were not calculated.

Narrowed to Hillsborough County, of the estimated 233,009 renters, 127,223 (55%) are cost-burdened, and 64,700 are severely cost-burdened.

According to an analysis ofZillow's rental data from 2019-2023, rent increased by 50% in Tampa, compared to wages increasing by just 15.3%. Tampa has the highest discrepancy in the nation, and it is 20% higher than the national average.

Excavia Bloodsworth knows firsthand how hard it has become to make ends meet.

"I have four kids. I'm a single mom. We have been homeless, like, two times, and then I finally got on Section eight, which my rent is not that much, but, you know, consider everything else, other bills, it's hard," she said.

Kelsey Hernandez agrees. She's from Tampa. In the 7 years she's rented, her rent has gone from $900 to $1,600. She says she's close to spending half of her income on rent.

"I've lived in Tampa for a very long time, and I know that since COVID, the prices of rent have gone up significantly more. And you know somebody that lives on their own and pays their bills on their own, it's definitely hard sometimes to make ends meet. So would be nice to have something, you know, more reasonable," she said.