Higher rental payments have driven U.S. costs to new highs, according to a 2024 report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. With a record 22.4 million renter households spending more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities, half of all renters were taxed for cash in 2022, the report states. Evictions also increased, sending homeless counts to all-time highs, the data showed. "Pandemic resources temporarily shored up the housing safety net, but the need for rental assistance remains greater than ever," the report said. "Additionally, the aging rental stock requires significant investment to address structural inadequacies, inaccessibility, and climate risks." Key findings from the study include: |

• Among cost-burdened households, 12.1 million had housing costs that consumed more than half of their income, an all-time high for severe burdens.
• Following historically high rent increases in 2021 and 2022, rent growth has almost completely stopped.
• In the third quarter of 2023, growth for professionally managed apartments plummeted to 0.4%, down from 15.3% in early 2022.
• Just 1% of U.S. markets posted rent growth of at least 10% in the third quarter of 2023.

Meanwhile, high mortgage rates and fewer buying options have made owning a home almost 37% more expensive than renting. The average monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced home sits at $2,703, while the average monthly rent payment is $1,979 as of February 2024. While prices fluctuate between locations, renters insurance costs an average of $148 annually, or about $12 each month, and doesn't cover structural damage, with rates largely based on risk proximity to natural disasters like severe storms, hurricanes, and flooding. The slideshow above illustrates the best places to rent in America as determined by WalletHub.

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