Posted on 12/09/2025 9:21:03 PM PST by SeekAndFind
About one in three U.S. households rents, a ratio that has stayed surprisingly steady over the past six decades.
But with mortgage rates soaring from 2.7% in 2020 to almost 7% today - and home prices continuing to climb - the share of renters has edged up.
Today, it takes $121,400 to afford a typical home, or 43% higher than the average salary.
This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld, shows the share of Americans renting versus owning by state, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
As the table below shows, states with the highest share of renters are found in states with high costs of living, led by Washington, D.C. and New York.
Despite residents of Washington, D.C. having the highest average hourly wages nationally— reaching $51.30 in real terms—the number of renters far surpasses that of homeowners.
As a result of limited housing supply, it has one of the most competitive rental markets in the country. High home prices, and an influx of out-of-state residents, notably New York City and Boston, are further putting strain on renters.
Meanwhile, 45.7% of people in New York rent, ranking in second. In the Big Apple, the average monthly rent is $4,100 for a one-bedroom apartment in 2025, rising 22% in the past five years.
California (44.2%), Nevada (39.9%), and North Dakota (38.8%) round out the top five states by share of renters.
In contrast, West Virginia has the smallest share of renters across states, at just 24.5%. Supporting home ownership is its affordability, with the median home sale price standing at $225,506 in Q2 2025, significantly lower than the national median of $410,800.
To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on rent prices in America by state.
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
Looking at the top of the chart makes me see DemocRAT.
North Dakota must be all frackers.
Now that 2 million illegals have left the U.S. I wonder if any metro area is starting to see rent prices come down yet? I’m afraid they’ll have to deport millions more before any real impact will be seen.
Mean=32.95, median=33.5, std dev=5.637, std error of the mean at 95% confidence level=32.95 ±1.532 (±4.65%)
Taking out DC and PR, the mean=32.47, median=33.3, std dev=4.364, SEM at 95% confidence level=32.472 ±1.21 (±3.73%)
vlad, why would illegals have any impact on anything but low-end rental prices?
They aren’t renting the places in Manhattan etc. - they probably are living 5 to a room somewhere in New Jersey, right?
If the taxpayers are paying the rent for the... okay, let’s call them ‘less fortunate’, does that make every taxpayer a renter as well?
Is it possible that home buying statistics are misleading by talking about average home prices for a first time homebuyer? Shouldn’t first homebuyers be looking at starter homes, which are usually smaller and in less desirable locations such as proximity to centers of work?
“…influx of out-of-state residents, notably New York City and Boston, are further putting strain on renters”
How many are illegals? How many are foreign born? I think I read that the USA has an all-time high of people not born in the USA. Immigration should be curtailed or paused until things stabilize and housing reaches a better equilibrium.
I’ve never seen so much single family housing construction as I see here in North Idaho. Subdivisions are sprouting like summer weeds after a rainfall. And yet the paper is still full of blather about the local “housing crisis” even though Idaho in neat the top in home ownership.
If you live in a high property tax state, I’d argue starter homes are the only homes you should be looking at.
That said, even the wrecks in my Upstate NY neck of the woods are overpriced.
Not that they’re moving...
But I guess sellers think they can afford to be optimistic since the only other homes for sale are far more overpriced and overtaxed McMansions.
Foreclosures are rising in Idaho. What’s it mean for homeowners?
If that info is accurate, you may have a crisis after all.
Oddly, West Virginia is somewhat close to DC. We spend a lot of time cruising around WV. There is a lot there. A friend grew up on a farm there and farming stopped when they found natural gas.
rent your house ... put the savings into REITs if you wanna invest in RE ...
Jumps right out at you, for sure
We have two landlords in town. One rents small houses and it is a pain. The other rents nicer houses to retirees who cashed in.
Bkmk
A couple of things.
DC isn’t a state. It is a tiny but crowded piece of land that serves as the nation’s capital, replete with numerous government buildings, parks, museums and other venues that take up a good portion of the land in its boundaries. It will certainly not have enough homes for everyone. It’s not like one can buy a home in the outer burbs because there are none.
Most of the other overly rented places are restricted due to government making it impossible to build homes or even extra rental units because of price controls, environmental laws, over regulated construction rules and an unfounded Leftist belief that landlords are slumlords desiring to squeeze their renters.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.