The number of renter households across the country that are considered cost-burdened, or requiring more than 30% of the renter’s income for rent – continues to increase, and incentives aren't doing enough to help. In fact, nearly half of all renter households are cost-burdened after the number grew by 1.8% between 2022 and 2023, according to a Zillow analysis. Even more alarmingly, nearly one-quarter of renters spent at least half of their income on rent in 2023.
Zillow estimates that homelessness rises faster when the typical rent exceeds 32% of median income in a given market. That is currently true in seven of the 50 largest U.S. metro areas, including Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Tampa, Riverside, San Diego, and Boston.
Housing Choice Vouchers (HCVs) provided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are crucial in providing rental assistance to low-income renters. However, during the pandemic, as rents surged and affordability worsened, the availability and value of these vouchers did not keep up, according to Zillow. The vouchers aided 2.5 million households, leaving an affordability gap for most of those in need.
Recommended For You
Furthermore, securing a housing voucher doesn’t guarantee a renter can find a suitable property, said Zillow. In 24 of the nation’s 100 largest metro areas, the report found more than 10 times as many cost-burdened renter households as there were available vouchers.
“Even if HCVs were more widely available and voucher values had kept pace with rapid rent growth, voucher holders might still be held back by landlords refusing to accept those vouchers,” said Zillow. “Studies estimate that roughly 30% of the households that receive housing vouchers are ultimately unsuccessful in finding a rental that will accept the voucher.”
Nationwide, the slowdown in rent growth in the past year has helped improve rent affordability. The value of HCVs has also caught up somewhat to market-rate rents, which increased by 3.5% in 2024, while the value of vouchers increased by 7.2%. In January, the typical rent nationwide was still 29% greater than the average value of a housing voucher across all U.S. counties.
Zillow’s efforts to address this challenge include advocating for legislation to prohibit source-of-income discrimination and supporting the Choice in Affordable Housing Act, which tackles programmatic barriers and incentives to landlord participation in the HCV program.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Kristen Smithberg
Kristen Smithberg is a Colorado-based freelance writer who covers commercial real estate, insurance, benefits and retirement topics for BenefitsPRO and other industry publications.
