Rentership Still Rising

More Americans are renting, according to new analysis by Zillow. The rentership rate has grown in each of the 50 largest U.S. cities since 2006. 

The share of all occupied homes that were rented in the U.S. was 35.7 percent in June, slightly down from the last peak at the end of 2016. Between 64 and more than 69 percent of occupied homes in Los Angeles, Boston, New York, and Miami were rented in 2016; indeed, 29 of the 50 biggest cities were majority rented in 2016, per Zillow. The national median rent currently stands at $1,440 per month, up 1.3 percent over the last year and unchanged over the last month. 

Since the turn of the millennium, nearly all of America’s 50 largest cities have seen a rise in their rentership rates, the percentage of homes that are rented rather than owned. In all but a few of these cities, the ascent has been far from smooth. While the housing boom in the early part of the century’s first decade led to an increase in homeownership, the financial crisis and subsequent uneven recovery have resulted in more households choosing to or being forced to rent, especially in the country’s largest urban centers.

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