How much do households in Pennsylvania spend on rent?
Data updated September 16, 2024
About $1.12K per month, or 30.6% 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
30.6%
of median income
In 2022,
$1.12K
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.
Pennsylvania's rent-to-income ratio was lower than 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 Pennsylvania, the rent-to-income ratio reached 33.7% that year. Most recently, in 2022, Pennsylvania’s rent-to-income ratio was 30.6%, 1.1 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 Pennsylvania, the highest and lowest rent-to-income ratios were in the State College area at 37.6% and the Chambersburg area at 26.4%.
During that period, the Philadelphia, PA area had the highest median rent at $1.35K per month and the second highest median monthly income at $4.2K out of eighteen Pennsylvania metro areas. Its rent-to-income ratio was fifth highest in the state.
Renter income and rent, Pennsylvania metro areas (2018–2022)
| 1. | Allentown, PA area | $3,848 |
| 2. | Altoona, PA area | $2,793 |
| 3. | Bloomsburg, PA area | $3,002 |
| 4. | Chambersburg, PA area | $3,857 |
| 5. | East Stroudsburg, PA area | $4,016 |
| 6. | Erie, PA area | $2,567 |
| 7. | Gettysburg, PA area | $3,893 |
| 8. | Harrisburg, PA area | $4,093 |
| 9. | Johnstown, PA area | $2,378 |
| 10. | Lancaster, PA area | $4,448 |
