Overview
- Realtor.com’s new report finds the rental market divides into three overlapping groups across the 100 largest metros, rather than a single, uniform experience.
- Young renters, who make up 31.9% of renter households, cluster in midsize inland cities like Colorado Springs, Austin, and Denver, where about 52.6% can afford the local fair‑market rent compared with 32.0% in Miami and 33.6% in Los Angeles.
- Family renters, at 44.3% of renter households, concentrate in majority‑minority markets across California, Texas, Florida, and Hawaii, where high prices and gaps in credit and wealth keep buying out of reach.
- Long‑term renters, 36.1% of renter households, cluster in rent‑regulated anchors like New York and Los Angeles and in overflow cities such as Providence and Bridgeport, where 39% would struggle to afford a typical local rent if forced to move.
- The study uses 2024 Census survey data, HUD’s 2024 Fair Market Rents—HUD’s benchmark for a typical modest unit—and late‑2025 jobless rates to gauge affordability, defining affordable as under 30% of income and severe strain as over 50%.