Americans are being forced to work an extra 6 hours a month to afford rising rents
The rent was “too damn high” 12 years ago and has only skyrocketed since. It has risen so much that renters in the US now have to work six hours more than before the pandemic to afford the average monthly rent, according to Zillow.
U.S. rents have risen about 36% over the past five years and now average $2,040 a month nationwide, the real estate company reported. During the same period, wages have increased by just 23%.
Americans are in a bind, and rising costs are coming from multiple quarters: rents are rising along with inflation, which is putting pressure on groceries, gas and essentials; the threat of a recession; and a post-pandemic workforce malaise that has prompted workers to seek a better work-life balance amid cascading layoffs.
“Rents grew at a record pace for much of 2021, squeezing budgets for tenants moving or renewing leases. Now more people seem to be choosing to double up with roommates or family, which means more vacancies and pressure on landlords to price their units competitively,” Jeff Tucker, senior economist at Zillow, wrote in the report.
The good news, Tucker noted, “Rents fell last month for the first time in two years, possibly the start of further price declines or at least a signal that we’re returning to normal rental market seasonal rhythms.”
Median rents in the US capped two straight years of growth last month, falling less than 1% after annual rental growth peaked at 17% earlier in the year.
Meanwhile, while relief is on the horizon, Americans will have to work nearly 63 hours at an average US wage before they can afford their monthly rent.
The strain is greatest for renters in Miami, where it takes 96 hours for average-wage workers to pay rent, according to Zillow’s analysis. That’s 24 more hours than renters in Miami would have had to work to pay rent five years ago.
In metro areas like Atlanta, Phoenix, Nashville, and Austin, the hours of work required to afford rent have remained below the national average, despite still-soaring rents. And in just three major metro areas — San Jose, Boston, and San Francisco — rents are more affordable, despite being some of the highest rents in the country.
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