Here's Where People Are Struggling Most To Make Rent

Renters in Miami, Houston, and Philadelphia are most behind on their rent, as an estimated 6 million people nationwide are late on payments, according to analysts at MyEListing.com. The cities are followed by New York and Chicago.

In Miami, 25% of renters are behind on rent, according to the survey. The city also sits atop a recent list from three academic researchers ranking the largest premiums and annual rent increases nationally. Ken Johnson, Ph.D., of Florida Atlantic University, Shelton Weeks, Ph.D., of Florida Gulf Coast University, and Bennie Waller, Ph.D., of The University of Alabama, found  found that renters in Miami are paying 21.98 percent above the long-term rental trend and 21.92 percent more than they did a year ago.

Miami, Riverside, and Philadelphia metros also saw the biggest increase of renters unable to keep up with rent payments in 2022 compared to 2021, acccording to MyEListing.com, and in Miami, the percentage of those unable to keep up on rent rose 10 bps since last year.

In addition, renters in South Dakota, Alabama, and New Jersey have the most trouble making their monthly payments. Those states are followed by South Carolina, Connecticut, Delaware, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, and New York. MyEListing.com analysts note that the percentages of late payers range widely state to state: in South Dakota, 22% of renters are behind, while just 3% in Idaho are late on payments. The research also found that Minnesota, Wisconsin, and South Dakota had the largest increase of renters unable to keep up on rent year over year.

“A troubling aspect of these findings is that rent costs keep increasing,” MyEListing.com analysts note in a report dissecting the data. “While the percentage of Americans unable to keep up on rent has remained consistent over the last 3 years, it has remained consistently high at 15%. The question remains: Will Americans be able to keep up on their rent payments as costs continue to rise/?”

Rent growth in the suburbs has been outpacing urban rent increases since the onset of the pandemic, with rents in the former growing by 27.2 percent on average since March 2020, according to an ApartmentList survey of 39 large and medium-sized metropolitan areas. Conversely, rents have grown by an average of 19.8 percent average rent growth in the core cities those suburbs surround.