Money Research Collective’s editorial team solely created this content. Opinions are their own, but compensation and in-depth research determine where and how companies may appear. Many featured companies advertise with us. How we make money.
The 10 Most Affordable Cities for Renters, According to Harvard Researchers
By Pete Grieve MONEY RESEARCH COLLECTIVE
Spoiler: The top two are in North Dakota.
A record share of renters are now “cost-burdened,” meaning they spend a high percentage of their income on housing. But even as tenants in many parts of the United States stretch their budgets, there are still cities that stand out for affordability, according to a new report from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.
In places like Williston, North Dakota — an oil-rich town that’s seen a population surge in the past 15 years — or Jacksonville, Illinois — a small town in farm country — less than 20% of renters are considered cost-burdened.
The Harvard housing affordability report, which was released in June but uses data from 2022, defines a cost-burdened renter as one who spends more than the recommended 30% of household income on housing costs (including utilities).
A record-high 22.4 million met this definition of “cost-burdened” in 2022, an increase of 2 million in three years. With that rise, about half of renters are now putting at least 30% of their income toward housing.
“Rents have been rising faster than incomes for decades,” Alexander Hermann, a senior research associate, said in the report. “However, the pandemic-era rent surge produced an unprecedented affordability crisis that continues.”
Find Your Actual Rate at Rocket Mortgage (NMLS #3030) Today!
View RatesThe most affordable cities for renters
If you’re looking to live in one of the cheapest cities in America, you may have to make some compromises, like dealing with extreme weather or living in a remote area.
Other cities that rank in the top 10 also include small towns in Idaho, Oklahoma, Tennessee, South Dakota and Minnesota.
Here’s the list of the 10 most affordable metro areas based on the share of “cost-burdened” renter households:
- Dickinson, North Dakota: 17.0% of renters considered cost-burdened
- Williston, North Dakota: 17.0%
- Jacksonville, Illinois: 18.4%
- Miami, Oklahoma: 23.7%
- Mountain Home, Idaho: 24.7%
- Hailey, Idaho: 24.7%
- Pierre, South Dakota: 25.2%
- Crossville, Tennessee: 25.2%
- Paris, Tennessee: 25.3%
- Fairmont, Minnesota: 25.5%
The least affordable cities for renters
On the flip side, renters appear to be struggling the most in cities where the median household income is low — earnings come in below $30,000 in five of the top 10 cities and below $40,000 in the five others. (For context, the typical national household income in 2022 was about $74,000.)
These cities also tend to have median rents of $1,000 or more despite residents’ relatively low incomes.
Here are the least affordable metro areas based on the share of renter households that were “severely cost-burdened” in 2022, meaning over 50% of their income goes to rent:
- Stillwater, Oklahoma: 45.3% of renters considered severely cost-burdened
- Corvallis, Oregon: 42.4%
- Selma, Alabama: 42.1%
- Pullman, Washington: 41.6%
- Othello, Washington: 41.6%
- Port St. Lucie, Florida: 41.4%
- Auburn-Opelika, Alabama: 40.4%
- Bloomington, Indiana: 39.6%
- Athens-Clarke County, Georgia: 39.6%
- State College, Pennsylvania: 39.2%
More from Money:
8 Best Mortgage Lenders of July 2024
A Record Number of Americans Are Spending More on Housing Than They Can Afford
‘Zombie’ Mortgages Are Back With a Vengeance to Haunt Homeowners
Pete Grieve is a New York-based reporter who covers personal finance news. At Money, Pete covers trending stories that affect Americans’ wallets on topics including car buying, insurance, housing, credit cards, retirement and taxes. He studied political science and photography at the University of Chicago, where he was editor-in-chief of The Chicago Maroon. Pete began his career as a professional journalist in 2019. Prior to joining Money, he was a health reporter for Spectrum News in Ohio, where he wrote digital stories and appeared on TV to provide coverage to a statewide audience. He has also written for the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chicago Sun-Times and CNN Politics. Pete received extensive journalism training through Report for America, a nonprofit organization that places reporters in newsrooms to cover underreported issues and communities, and he attended the annual Investigative Reporters and Editors conference in 2021. Pete has discussed his reporting in interviews with outlets including the Columbia Journalism Review and WBEZ (Chicago's NPR station). He’s been a panelist at the Chicago Headline Club’s FOIA Fest and he received the Institute on Political Journalism’s $2,500 Award for Excellence in Collegiate Reporting in 2017. An essay he wrote for Grey City magazine was published in a 2020 book, Remembering J. Z. Smith: A Career and its Consequence.