Housing affordability statistics show how housing costs relate to household income across renting and owning. The figures below focus mainly on the United States and identify the population, period, threshold and survey measure behind each result.
Key Housing Affordability Statistics
The most broadly useful housing affordability figures include:
- In 2023, 46.3% of U.S. renter households were housing-cost burdened, meaning they spent more than 30% of income on housing.
- In 2023, 23.9% of U.S. renter households were severely cost burdened, spending more than 50% of income on housing.
- In 2023, the median U.S. renter housing-cost burden ratio was 31.0% of household income.
- In 2023, more than 21 million U.S. renter households spent over 30% of income on housing.
- From 2022 to 2023, inflation-adjusted median renter housing costs rose from $1,354 to $1,406 per month in the United States.
- In 2023, the median U.S. home value was $340,200.
- In 2023, the 25th-percentile U.S. home value was $191,900, while the 75th-percentile value was $568,500.
- In 2024, median monthly owner costs with a mortgage were $2,035 in the United States.
- In 2024, mortgaged U.S. homeowners spent a median 21.4% of household income on selected owner costs.
- In 2024, 59.7% of owned U.S. homes had a monthly mortgage payment.
- In 2023, 56.2% of Black-alone U.S. renter households were cost burdened, representing 4.6 million households.
- In 2023, 53.2% of Hispanic U.S. renter households were cost burdened, representing 4.8 million households.
- In 2021, HUD estimated 8.53 million U.S. renter households had worst-case housing needs.
- In 2021, only 57 affordable units were available per 100 very-low-income renter households in the United States.
- In 2021, only 36 affordable units were available per 100 extremely-low-income renter households.
- From 2022 to 2023, the U.S. housing inventory increased by 1.6 million units.
Contents
- National housing affordability statistics
- Rent affordability trends and renter costs
- Homeownership affordability data and monthly costs
- Housing affordability by race and household group
- Low-income renters and affordable-unit shortages
- Housing supply, vacancy and affordability pressure
National Housing Affordability Statistics
The Census Bureau generally treats housing costs above 30% of income as cost burden and costs above 50% as severe burden, but the exact calculation universe and cost components vary by source. In the 2023 ACS-61 estimate, 46.3% of U.S. renter households were cost burdened, and the median renter burden ratio was 31.0%.
The same ACS estimate put severe renter burden at 23.9% in 2023, down from 24.1% in 2022. The source describes this as a decrease, while noting that statistical significance should be checked in the underlying table. (Housing Availability and Affordability: 2023)
| Tenure group | 2023 median housing-cost burden | Additional 2023 measure |
|---|---|---|
| Renters | 31.0% of household income | 46.3% cost burdened; 23.9% severely burdened |
| Homeowners with mortgages | 21.1% of household income | Selected owner-cost measure |
| Homeowners without mortgages | 11.5% of household income | 14.3% cost burdened; 7.3% severely burdened |
These medians compare separate tenure populations rather than matched households. The owner measure includes selected costs such as mortgage payments, taxes, insurance, utilities and fees, while renters are measured through gross rent and related ACS definitions.
The Census Bureau’s race-focused 2023 ACS press release reported 49.7% of renter households as cost burdened in its calculation universe. That figure should remain separate from the 46.3% ACS-61 estimate because the releases use different calculation universes and table framing. (Nearly Half of Renter Households Are Cost-Burdened, Proportions Differ by Race)
Rent Affordability Trends and Renter Costs
The 2023 Census press release calculated rent burden for 42.5 million U.S. renter households and reported that more than 21 million spent over 30% of income on housing. In the same release’s framing, median renter housing costs rose from $1,354 in 2022 to $1,406 in 2023 after inflation adjustment.
Key renter-market measures include:
- Real median gross rent increased 3.8% from 2022 to 2023 in the United States; gross rent includes rent plus average monthly utilities and fuels.
- The median renter income share devoted to gross rent was 31.0% in 2023.
- Renter-occupied housing units increased 0.9% from 2022 to 2023.
- The share of U.S. households renting was 34.8% in both 2022 and 2023; no statistically significant change was reported.
The ACS-61 report also found that real median home values increased 1.8% from 2022 to 2023. Thus, within these separate ACS measures, real rental costs grew faster than real home values in that period: 3.8% versus 1.8%, a comparison that does not create a single affordability index. (Housing Availability and Affordability: 2023)
Homeownership Affordability Data and Monthly Costs
The 2023 ACS reported a median U.S. home value of $340,200. This is a self-reported ACS value measure, not an appraisal, sale price or transaction-price index.
| Home-value position | 2023 U.S. value |
|---|---|
| 25th percentile | $191,900 |
| Median | $340,200 |
| 75th percentile | $568,500 |
The median increased by $6,100, or 1.8%, from 2022 to 2023. In the longer ACS series, the median fell from $281,000 in 2008 to $229,300 in 2012, then rose from $229,300 in 2012 to $287,500 in 2019; the source notes that the question format changed in 2008. (Housing Availability and Affordability: 2023)
The 2024 ACS provides a more recent monthly-cost view for mortgaged owners. Median monthly owner costs with a mortgage reached $2,035, up 3.8% from 2023 to 2024 in the inflation-adjusted comparison, and the median share of income spent on selected owner costs was 21.4%.
In 2024, 59.7% of owned homes had a monthly mortgage payment. The selected owner-cost measure includes mortgage, insurance, taxes, utilities and fees, so it should not be read as a complete affordability index. (The Cost of Homeownership Continues to Rise)
Housing Affordability by Race and Household Group
The 2023 race-focused ACS results show different renter cost-burden rates across the Census categories reported in the release. Hispanic origin is reported separately from race in ACS tables, and the estimates are subject to survey uncertainty.
| Renter population, United States | Cost burdened in 2023 | Households |
|---|---|---|
| Black alone | 56.2% | 4.6 million |
| Some Other Race alone | 54.7% | 2.0 million |
| Hispanic | 53.2% | 4.8 million |
| Two or More Races | 51.4% | 2.8 million |
| Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone | 51.7% | 53,000 |
| American Indian or Alaska Native alone | 48.8% | 229,000 |
| White alone | 46.7% | 10.4 million |
| Asian alone | 43.4% | 1.0 million |
Severe burden affected 30.6% of Black-alone renter householders, or about 2.5 million households, and 28.8% of Some Other Race-alone renter householders, or about 1.1 million households, in 2023. The Census source notes that several comparisons are not statistically different, and small-population estimates may have wider uncertainty. (Nearly Half of Renter Households Are Cost-Burdened, Proportions Differ by Race)
Low-Income Renters and Affordable-Unit Shortages
HUD’s worst-case-needs measure is narrower than overall housing-cost burden. It covers very-low-income renters without assistance who had severe rent burden, severe physical housing inadequacy, or both.
HUD estimated 8.53 million U.S. renter households had worst-case housing needs in 2021. That was 70% higher than the 5.01 million recorded in 2001 and above the prior 2011 record of 8.48 million, but the report’s comparisons across survey years should not be treated as a causal trend.
Additional HUD measures for very-low-income renters were:
- Worst-case needs rose from 7.77 million renter households in 2019 to 8.53 million in 2021.
- 44.1% of very-low-income renters experienced worst-case needs in 2021, up 1.9 percentage points from 42.2% in 2019.
- Across HUD demographic, geographic and urbanicity subgroups, 2021 prevalence ranged from 23.4% to 58.2%; this is a range across subgroup definitions, not a confidence interval.
- Very-low-income renters represented about 15% of U.S. households in HUD’s 2021 framing, a different denominator from renter-only burden rates.
| Income group | Affordable units per 100 renter households, 2021 |
|---|---|
| Very-low-income renters | 57 |
| Extremely-low-income renters | 36 |
These unit-availability estimates include units with rental assistance and use HUD affordability and income definitions. (Worst Case Housing Needs: 2023 Report to Congress)
Housing Supply, Vacancy and Affordability Pressure
The United States had 145.3 million housing units in 2023, and the national housing inventory increased by 1.6 million units from 2022 to 2023. These are ACS inventory estimates controlled to Census housing-unit estimates, not direct measures of affordability or available vacant homes.
The year-over-year structure changes were:
- Detached single-unit structures increased by 727,000 units, or 0.8%, from 2022 to 2023.
- Attached single-unit structures increased by 199,000 units, or 2.2%, over the same period.
- Multiunit structures with 2 to 19 units increased by 252,000 units, or 1.1%.
- Multiunit structures with 20 or more units increased by 434,000 units, or 2.9%; the Census Bureau notes that this increase was not statistically different from attached single-unit growth.
There were 98.0 million single-unit structures in 2023. Of those, 78.9 million had three or more bedrooms, equal to 80.6% of single-unit structures. (Housing Availability and Affordability: 2023)
At the county level, the 2017–2021 ACS 5-year estimates found 239 of 3,143 U.S. counties had a median renter housing-cost ratio above 30%. Those counties represented 7.6% of all U.S. counties; the ratio is a median among qualifying renter households, not a national household percentage.
The combined picture is therefore multidimensional: national renter burden, ownership costs, subgroup differences, low-income unit availability and housing inventory measure different parts of affordability. Survey year, geography, denominator and cost definition should be retained whenever these statistics are compared.