flexiblefullpage
Currently Reading

A Quarter of American Homeowners Are Considered ‘House Poor'

Advertisement
billboard
Affordability

A Quarter of American Homeowners Are Considered ‘House Poor'

A growing number of homeowners are spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs, leaving more than 1 in 4 Americans financially burdened


May 30, 2023
Small model houses on tall stacks of coins represent house-poor Americans
Image: mimadeo / stock.adobe.com

A recent analysis of monthly housing costs and median income data by the Chamber of Commerce found that more than one-quarter of all homeowners in the U.S. are considered “house poor,” meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing costs. The study revealed that Miami, Los Angeles, and New York City have the highest share of “house poor” residents, with more than four in 10 homeowners in each city exhausting their household incomes on housing costs. 

With the exception of New York City, the top 10 cities in the United States with the most cost-burdened homeowners are all located in either California or Florida, The New York Times reports.

The “30 percent” rule is a longtime piece of personal finance gospel that advises keeping all housing expenses, including rent or mortgage payments, property taxes and utilities, from cutting into more than 30 percent of your monthly income.

From 2015 to 2019, the percentage of U.S. homeowners who were considered financially strapped dropped each year, from 29.4 percent in 2015 to 26.5 percent in 2019. But the pandemic has now started to erase those gains.

Read more

 

Advertisement
leaderboard2

Related Stories

Housing Markets

Tracking Tool Shows Home Price Gains Over Past 5 Years

This interactive tool reveals 5-year home price changes in the priciest U.S. counties

Build to Rent

Why the Boom in Rental Apartment Construction Isn't Helping Affordability

A rental apartment construction boom isn't enough to resolve the growing affordability crisis, especially when most of those units are high-end and aren't located where housing is most needed

Business Management

Bridging the Gap Between Housing and Health Care

By addressing social determinants of human health, such as housing, Sameer Sood's FwdSlash is helping to make affordable shelter a value-based investment

Advertisement
boombox2

Top Articles

Advertisement
boombox1
Advertisement
native1
halfpage2

More in Category

COVID-19 may be easing its grip on the U.S. after a disastrous two years, but lingering supply chain disruptions have builders holding onto their pandemic business tactics

An archive of NHQA-winning companies that represent home building's best in Total Quality Management

Don’t let the current hype about single-family B2R communities obscure the need to create long-term sustainability and asset value

Advertisement
native2
Advertisement
halfpage1

Create an account

By creating an account, you agree to Pro Builder's terms of service and privacy policy.


Daily Feed Newsletter

Get Pro Builder in your inbox

Each day, Pro Builder's editors assemble the latest breaking industry news, hottest trends, and most relevant research, delivered to your inbox.

Save the stories you care about

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet lorem ipsum dolor sit amet lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

The bookmark icon allows you to save any story to your account to read it later
Tap it once to save, and tap it again to unsave

It looks like you’re using an ad-blocker!

Pro Builder is an advertisting supported site and we noticed you have ad-blocking enabled in your browser. There are two ways you can keep reading:

Disable your ad-blocker
Disable now
Subscribe to Pro Builder
Subscribe
Already a member? Sign in
Become a Member

Subscribe to Pro Builder for unlimited access

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.