It's getting harder to afford rent in the U.S., even for middle-income families

A "For Rent" sign displays outside an apartment building in Skokie, Ill., in 2024. Researchers from the Urban Institute found that a growing number of renters in the U.S. are struggling to pay for housing each month. Nam Y. Huh/AP hide caption

A growing number of renters in the U.S. are struggling to pay for housing each month, according to new research that found more middle-income families may be defaulting on rent and becoming vulnerable to eviction.

While the country's lowest-income renters have always paid an outsized share of their earnings toward housing costs, a new report from the Urban Institute found that families across all income brackets are facing increasingly stark affordability issues.

One in every five middle-income renters surveyed by the institute said that at some point during 2025, they could not afford to pay the full amount of rent when it was due. That's a significant jump from the year prior, when about 14% reported being unable to pay their rent.

Researchers said housing affordability is being made worse due to mounting economic pressures and the rising costs of everyday necessities. A similar number of renters — slightly more than 20% — also reported struggling to pay for gas, oil or electricity last year.

"We have historically observed that low-income renters experience high rates of housing cost-burdens and, as a result, are particularly vulnerable to having to make choices between meeting their family's basic needs or paying rent. And sometimes that results in eviction or homelessness," said Samantha Batko, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute and co-author of the report. "This increase among middle-income renters is a big and important shift that reflects overall challenges with affordability in the country."

Homeowners' ability to afford their mortgage payments has remained steady for the past seven years, the survey found. But the number of renters who reported being behind on rent has been climbing since 2022.

Nearly 28% of lower-income renters said they were unable to pay for housing sometime during 2025, a gradual increase from around 24% in 2019.