The 9 US Housing Markets Where Tenants Are Most Behind On Rent

Second homes and investment properties fascinate investors, who turn to Inman’s weekly Property Portfolio email newsletter as well as agents who work with this special class of client. This month, we’ll go deeper on everything from the latest at Airbnb and Vrbo to the changes investors are making to their portfolios in a shifting real estate market.

One in every four renters in some U.S. markets is behind on monthly rent payments after a historic run-up in prices, according to a new report.

The number of renters who said they were falling behind in some markets that have faced the nation’s highest growth in rent over the past two years have jumped, according to the commercial real estate portal MyEListing.com, which released the report on Monday.

The overall rate, however, has stayed the same in the past three years, according to MyEListing.com

“Renting an apartment has become a burden for millions of Americans around the country,” Brian Kidder, an analyst with MyEListing.com, said in a statement. “Nationally, we found 15 percent of the country is behind on their rent.”

MyEListing.com analyzed a recent survey from the U.S. Census Bureau to see which markets had the highest percentage of renters who were struggling to make payments.

While the overall rate remained relatively unchanged from 2019 through this fall, the analysis found some markets with higher than average numbers of renters who were behind.

Approximately 6 million American households are behind on their rent payments, according to the report. That has remained relatively stable over the past three years, the report said.

At the same time, rent has climbed to new heights. Rent grew at rates far above historical norms for the past two years before recently showing signs of slowing and possibly dipping year over year.

In markets like Miami, rent grew nearly 40 percent year over year. More renters in that city are behind on rent payments than any other, according to the report. One in four renters reported being behind on payments.

“With cost of living soaring across the board due to inflation, people in every state are having difficulty keeping up with their rent,” Kidder said. “With eviction moratoriums concluded and the cost of rent continuing to increase, we predict the number of people behind on rent will increase.”

Metros with the highest percentage of renters behind on payments

• Miami – 25 percent
• Houston – 21 percent
• Philadelphia – 21 percent
• New York – 18 percent
• Chicago – 18 percent
• Seattle – 15 percent
• Dallas – 15 percent
• Atlanta – 15 percent
• Los Angeles – 14 percent

States with highest percentage of renters behind on payments

• South Dakota – 26 percent
• Alabama – 25 percent
• New Jersey – 24 percent
• South Carolina – 22 percent
• Connecticut – 21 percent
• Delaware – 20 percent
• Arkansas – 20 percent
• Kentucky – 20 percent
• Louisiana – 20 percent
• New York – 19 percent

According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau figures, 2.7 million renters reported their monthly rent rose more than $500 in the past year.

Email Taylor Anderson

Get Inman’s Property Portfolio Newsletter delivered right to your inbox. A weekly roundup of news that real estate investors need to stay on top, delivered every Tuesday. Click here to subscribe.