No matter how you slice it — well, how the Census Bureau slices it —
California is a pricey place to be a renter. And those huge costs are
certainly no help when family checkbooks get stretched by a recession.
The 2008 American Community Survey by Census found these states with the highest “Median Monthly Housing Costs for Renter-Occupied Housing Units” (ahem, basically rent) …
- Hawaii, $1,298 a month
- California, $1,135
- Maryland, $1,074
- New Jersey, $1,068
- District of Columbia, $1,011
Oh, yeah, the lowest? West Virginia at $528 and North Dakota at $534! And national mid-point? $824.
But when you look at rent vs. income, the financial burden looks as bleak. The 2008 ACS survey tracked “Percent of Renter-Occupied Units Spending 30 Percent or More of Household Income on Rent and Utilities,” with the states with the highest burdens being …
- Florida, 53.7% of income
- California, 52.1%
- Hawaii, 50.4%
- Michigan, 48.8%
- Connecticut, 48.2%
The lowest? Wyoming at 32.5% and North Dakota at 34.4%. National? 46.1%!
With California’s job market in tatters, landlords have been forced to cut rents to attract tenants.
Will be interesting to see if those rent reductions do anything over
time to improve rental unit “affordability” in a state where the
typical renter spends half their income on shelter. Or will it be
cured, by a high-rate of defections from the state?
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