How much do households in Michigan spend on rent?
Data updated September 16, 2024
Renters in Michigan paid about $1.05K per month, or 31.7% of their income, in 2022. This is measured by comparing median rent and median monthly income for renting households.
Showing data for
In 2022, median rent was
31.7%
of median income
In 2022,
$1.05K
was the median rent per month
Comparing rent to renter income provides one measure of rental affordability. 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 it’s more affordable.
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% 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. When median monthly rent is more than 30% of average monthly income, it means a typical household would meet the definition of housing cost-burdened.
Michigan's rent-to-income ratio was equal to in the US overall in 2022.
Ratio of median rent to median renter household income
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The national rent-to-income ratio reached a high of 33.8% in 2011 following the Great Recession. In Michigan, the rent-to-income ratio reached 36.5% that year. Most recently, in 2022, Michigan’s rent-to-income ratio was 31.7%, 0.0 percentage points lower than the national rate.
Across metro areas, the average rent-to-income ratio was 30.8% in 2018–2022.
Ratio of median rent to median renter household income, 2018–2022
In 2018–2022, the average rent-to-income ratio across metro areas was 30.8%. The metro areas with the highest and lowest ratios were the Mayagüez, Puerto Rico area at 56.9% (highest) and the Sheboygan, Wisconsin area at 21.7% (lowest). In Michigan, the highest and lowest were the Ann Arbor area at 33.9% and the Midland area at 28.3%.
During that period, Ann Arbor, MI area had the highest median rent at $1.33K per month and highest median monthly income at $3.93K out of fourteen Michigan metro areas. Ann Arbor, MI had the highest rent-to-income ratio in the state.
Renter income and rent, Michigan metro areas (2018–2022)
| 1. | Ann Arbor, MI area | $3,934 |
| 2. | Battle Creek, MI area | $2,953 |
| 3. | Bay City, MI area | $2,756 |
| 4. | Detroit, MI area | $3,483 |
| 5. | Flint, MI area | $2,931 |
| 6. | Grand Rapids, MI area | $3,732 |
| 7. | Jackson, MI area | $2,961 |
| 8. | Kalamazoo, MI area | $3,306 |
| 9. | Lansing, MI area | $3,201 |
| 10. | Midland, MI area | $3,288 |
