Apartment rent-to-income levels are continuing along the same level trajectory they've enjoyed over the last decade, with median ratios staying at around 22% from 2010 to 2020 in professionally managed market-rate units, according to new data from RealPage.

The median household income for that property type clocked in at $65,000 in 2020, well above the median income of $42,500 among all renter housing types, The median rent-to-income ratio "also indicates lesser affordability challenges compared to other types of rentals," RealPage notes, pointing out that recent data from Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies suggests that about half of all renters nationally pay at least 30% of income on rent.

Rent growth in the sector has been offset by rising incomes for that category of units, and RealPage analysis of the decade-long data set reveals that affordability is inversely correlated with rent level.