How many households in the spend too much on housing?

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About 125,000 households were cost-burdened in 2025. That's 39.3% of all households in the District of Columbia. 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.

125K

District of Columbia households were cost burdened in 2025

39.3%

of District of Columbia households were cost burdened in 2025
The number of cost-burdened households in the District of Columbia increased from 103,400 in 2015 to 125,000 in 2025. 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 2025, 39.3% of households in the District of Columbia were cost burdened, higher than the national average of 33.6%.

In the District of Columbia, 39.3% of households were cost burdened in 2025.

Share of households that spent at least 30% of their income on housing, 2005–2025

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.

What is the difference in housing cost burden for renters versus homeowners in the District of Columbia? How does this compare to the US overall?

Since 2015, the proportion of cost-burdened owner households in the District of Columbia has increased from 23.4% to 24.3% in 2025. Meanwhile, cost burden increased from 48.4% to 49.2% among renter households. In the District of Columbia, the cost-burdened share of owner households was lower and the cost-burdened share of renter households was lower than the national average in 2025.

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In the District of Columbia, 49.2% of renter households and 24.3% of owner households were cost burdened in 2025.

Share of households that spent at least 30% of their income on housing, 2005–2025

How high is cost burden for renters in the District of Columbia cities compared to other US cities?

In 2020–2024, the share of owner households in metro areas that were cost burdened was 23.3%. (Metro areas are made up of a city with at least 50,000 people and the economically and socially interconnected counties.) The metro areas with the highest and lowest share of cost-burdened owner households were the Miami, FL area at 35.1% (highest) and Morgantown, WV area, at 13.2% (lowest).
In the Washington, DC area, 22.1% of owner households were cost-burdened.

Across metro areas, 23.3% of owner households were cost burdened.

Share of owner households that spent at least 30% of their income on housing, 2020–2024

In 2020–2024, the share of renter households in metro areas that were cost burdened was 51.8%. The metro areas in the US with the highest and lowest share of cost-burdened renter households were the Miami, FL area at 64.2% (highest) and the Sheboygan, WI area, at 34% (lowest). In the Washington, DC area, 47.8% of renter households were cost-burdened.

Across metro areas, 51.8% of renter households were cost burdened.

Share of renter households that spent at least 30% of their income on housing, 2020–2024

The difference between the cost-burdened share of owner and renter households was 24.9 percentage points in the District of Columbia. Within the District of Columbia, the gap was 24.9 percentage points.

Cost-burdened households, District of Columbia metro areas (2020–2024)

Metro areas where at least one of its primary counties are within District of Columbia

Cost-burdened households, District of Columbia metro areas (2020–2024)

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Methodology

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

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.