How many households in the spend too much on housing?

Refreshed annually
About 42.5 million in 2024. That's 33% of all households. These households spent at least 30% of their total income on rent or mortgage payments and utilities. The Department of Housing and Urban Development considers households that spend more than 30% of their income on housing to be cost-burdened. Cost-burdened households may have less money for other necessities such as food, healthcare, or savings.

42.5M

households were cost burdened in 2024

33%

of households were cost burdened in 2024
The number of cost-burdened households increased from 39 million in 2014 to 42.5 million in 2024. Cost burden considers both household income and housing costs, so factors affecting either of these can influence the number of burdened households. For example:

  • Changes in wages, employment status, or the number of people in a household can impact household income.
  • Changes in housing supply/demand or interest rates can affect costs.
A growing or declining US population can also affect the number of cost-burdened households. To counteract this, USAFacts analyzed the percentages of cost-burdened households rather than just the number. This prevents such population changes from skewing the data.
In 2024, 33% of US households were cost burdened. This is down 1.5 percentage points from 2014.

A higher share of renter households are cost-burdened than owner households.

Share of households that spent at least 30% of their income on housing

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Cost burden varies for renters and homeowners. For example, during the Great Recession (2007–2009) unemployment rose, millions of homes entered foreclosure, and rental demand increased. By 2010, cost burden had increased among renters while staying flat among homeowner households. Since 2014, the proportion of cost-burdened owner households has decreased from 25% to 23.6% in 2024. Meanwhile, cost burden has not changed from 51.8% among renter households.
Cost burdens also vary nationwide. The share of renters who are cost-burdened ranged from 36.1% in North Dakota to 62.1% of all renter households in Florida in 2024.

Florida had the highest cost-burdened share of renters in 2024.

Share of renter households that spent at least 30% of their income on housing, 2024

In 50 out of 50 states, plus Washington, DC and Puerto Rico, a smaller share of owner households was cost burdened than renter households in 2024. Among owner households, the share experiencing cost burden ranged from 15.1% in North Dakota to 32.2% in California.

California had the highest proportion of cost-burdened homeowners in 2024.

Share of owner households that spent at least 30% of their income on housing, 2024

Montana had the narrowest difference between cost-burdened renters and owners: 19.5 percentage points, with the burden being higher for renters. Louisiana had the largest gap: 32.3 percentage points.

Cost-burdened households, by state (2024)

Cost-burdened households, by state (2024)
1.

Alabama 

48.2%
2.

Alaska 

41.5%
3.

Arizona 

52.4%
4.

Arkansas 

45.5%
5.

California 

55.8%
6.

Colorado 

52.5%
7.

Connecticut 

54.1%
8.

Delaware 

50.3%
9.

Florida 

62.1%
10.

Georgia 

53.1%

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Methodology

USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.

The analysis was generated with the help of AI and reviewed by USAFacts for accuracy.

Page sources

USAFacts endeavors to share the most up-to-date information available. We sourced the data on this page directly from government agencies; however, the intervals at which agencies publish updated data vary.