In 2021, the median U.S. renter household making less than $30,000 per year had just $380 left over each month after paying rent, and according to Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, that’s 22% less than what they had at the beginning of the pandemic, the lowest monthly residual income recorded in more than 20 years. From 2019 to 2021, the median monthly household income decreased by 2%, while the median rent rose by 3% ($37) in real terms, leaving renters with $130 less residual income each month.
In addition, renter households were hit the hardest by pandemic job losses, further exacerbating an already dire affordability crisis.
Declines in residual incomes have significant implications for household well-being. Even before the pandemic, nearly two-thirds of working-age renters did not have enough to cover a basic standard of living after paying their rent each month. And as we’ve noted in previous reports, lower-income households spending more than half of their incomes on rent spend less on vital healthcare and food expenses than their unburdened counterparts.
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