A Phoenix constable posted an eviction order, prompting an apartment maintenance man to change the lock. A combination of factors, including low wages, a lack of available housing, and an increase in short-term rentals and vacation houses, is reducing the supply of affordable rental housing in Arizona. Pictures by John Moore/Getty Images
While just seven states had this problem in 2019, 21 of those states had rent and utilities consume 30% or more of the income of the majority of tenant households.
Around 22 million renters across the country are bearing that proportion. If your out-of-pocket expenses exceed 30% of your income, you may find it difficult to meet your basic needs for food, clothing, transportation, and healthcare, as defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Housing accounted for at least 30% of income for 47.5% of Kentucky renter households in 2019, an increase from 43.3% the previous year.
The percentage of renters out of a total of 57.4% increased from 51.1% in three presidential swing states: Arizona (54% vs. 46.5%), Nevada (57.4% vs. 48.4%), and Georgia (53.7 vs. 48.4%). This information is derived from the American Community Survey data that was made public today by the U.S. Census Bureau, as analyzed by Stateline. Huge increases were also observed in Maine and Florida.
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Renters in Arizona are finding it harder to find affordable housing due to factors such as low earnings, a lack of available properties, and the prevalence of short-term rentals and vacation homes, says Alison Cook-Davis, an associate director for research at the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University.
“People across the state are starting to lose it, thinking, ‘I thought Arizona was supposed to be the affordable state.'” Cook-Davis spoke about this.
In the past two years, she added, rents in Arizona have increased by as much as 60%. A total of 97,000 eviction petitions were filed in the state between 2022 and 2023, a 43% increase, according to her.
There has been a mismatch between population growth and the supply of housing, according to Cook-Davis, in states like Arizona and Nevada, where the late-2000s housing boom left many empty homes.
May statistics from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, showed that 58.3% of Nevadans were paying rent that was too high, surpassing even the New York City and San Francisco metropolitan areas, which had 52.6% and 48.9% tenants, respectively.
Florida (up 61.7% from 55.9%) and Maine (up 49.1% from 44%) had the largest increases in the proportion of renters burdened by costs, according to census data released last week. Other states with higher increases were Arizona, Nevada, and Georgia.
After making that leap, Florida was no longer the state with the most renters struggling to make ends meet. Nevada(57.4%), Hawaii(56.7%), Louisiana(56.2%), and California(56.1%) followed closely behind.
“Florida isn’t the deal it used to be,” remarked Christopher McCarty, director of the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research. “To this day, Florida’s wages lag behind the national average, and rents are rising at a faster rate than in other states as well.”
As of 2023, the states with the lowest rates of renters affected by costs were North Dakota (37%), Wyoming (41.2%), South Dakota (41.3%), Kansas (43.5%), and Nebraska (44%).
All states except Vermont have seen increases in the percentage of renters bearing the brunt of rising costs; the exceptions are North Dakota (down 37.0% from 38.0%), Rhode Island (down 48.1% from 49%), and Wyoming (down 41.2% from 44%).
According to Cook-Davis, Arizona and other states are showing signs of optimism due to the rise in housing development.
At some point, everything will fall into place if you keep creating. However, that may necessitate much more time. “The process is slow,” she remarked.
