How much do households in the Washington, DC area spend on rent?
Data updated September 16, 2024
About 29.6% of income was spent on rent and utilities in 2018–2022 for a typical household in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area. This was measured by comparing median gross rent, which includes rent and utilities, and median monthly income for renting households. A median, like an average, is a measure of a typical value in a set of numbers.
Showing data for
In 2018–2022, median rent was
29.6%
of median income
In 2018–2022,
$1.9K
was the median rent per month
Comparing rent to renter income provides one measure of rental affordability. Washington, DC area median rent was about $1.9K per month in 2018–2022. Typical monthly income among renting households was about $6.43K per month during that same period.
A typical household spent about $1.9K on rent in the Washington, DC area.
Median rent and median renter household income, 2018–2022
Dividing rent by income provides what is called a rent-to-income ratio. A higher ratio of rent-to-income indicates rent is less affordable while a lower ratio indicates greater affordability.
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The Department of Housing and Urban Development considers households with a rent-to-income ratio of more than 30%, that is, households that spend more than 30% their income on housing, to be cost-burdened. Cost-burdened households may have less money for other necessities such as food, healthcare, or savings. When median monthly rent is more than 30% of median monthly income, it means a typical household would meet the definition of housing cost-burdened.
The large metro average rent-to-income ratio was 31.4%.
Ratio of median rent to median renter household income, 2018–2022
The Washington, DC area’s rent-to-income ratio was 29.6% in 2018–2022. The Washington, DC area was considered large, with over 1 million people. The average rent-to-income ratio in large metros was 31.4%, which is 1.8 percentage points higher than that of the Washington, DC area.
Renter income and rent, large metro areas (2018–2022)
| 1. | Atlanta, GA area | $4,480 |
| 2. | Baltimore, MD area | $4,588 |
| 3. | Birmingham, AL area | $3,306 |
| 4. | Boston, MA area | $5,388 |
| 5. | Buffalo, NY area | $3,131 |
| 6. | Charlotte, NC area | $4,307 |
| 7. | Cincinnati, OH area | $3,462 |
| 8. | Cleveland, OH area | $3,222 |
| 9. | Columbus, OH area | $4,100 |
| 10. | Dallas, TX area | $4,738 |
