- Housing costs can vary across US states based on home prices, energy costs, and local wages.
- Hawaii has the highest cost burden, with both renters and owners spending over half of their income.
- New York has a gap of over 30 percentage points in housing burdens between renters and homeowners.
Whether you're shopping for a new home or just signed a lease on an apartment, you're no doubt aware of the high cost of housing — and the pressure it puts on tight budgets.
To understand how housing costs affect people across the US, it helps to examine how rent and mortgage payments fit into local living costs, including wages and energy costs.
For years, housing experts have cited keeping housing costs under 30% of monthly income as a rule of thumb for affordability, but in some states, this is far from a reality for many.
A recent WalletHub study examined housing affordability across the US, measuring how much of the median income renters and homeowners in each state spend on housing each month.
The study used data from the Council for Community and Economic Research, the US Census Bureau, Zillow, and WalletHub's in-house research to measure rent, mortgage, and home energy costs across all 50 states, which were then compared to each state's median monthly income to determine the burden of housing costs.
In Hawaii, renters spend an average of 62.5% of their income on housing costs, and homeowners spend 50% on average, the study reported.
While in some states the housing burden of homeowners and renters can be nearly equal — in Oklahoma, renters pay 20.3% and homeowners pay 20.4% of their income on housing costs — in others, there are significant gaps between the costs of renting and owning.
New York leads the gap, with homeowners in the state spending an average of 30.4% on housing while renters spend 61.3%.
"The current social and economic environment is significantly impacting monthly housing bill spending," Andrew Burnstine, an associate professor of business at Lynn University, said in the study. "This means that a larger portion of household budgets is now dedicated to simply keeping a roof overhead."
In 20 states, renters can be considered housing-burdened, or spending over 30% of their income on housing.
We ranked all 50 US states by how much both renters and homeowners spend on housing, on average. We also listed the median household income for each state, as reported on the most recent available American Community Survey data from the US Census Bureau, which reflects incomes in 2024.
See where each state falls.
50. Iowa
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 17.26%
Renters' housing cost burden: 20.95%
Median household income: $75,501
49. Oklahoma
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 20.36%
Renters' housing cost burden: 20.29%
Median household income: $66,148
48. Kansas
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 18.64%
Renters' housing cost burden: 23.55%
Median household income: $75,514
47. South Dakota
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 21.18%
Renters' housing cost burden: 21.86%
Median household income: $76,881
46. Minnesota
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 22.41%
Renters' housing cost burden: 22.05%
Median household income: $87,117
45. Arkansas
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 19.93%
Renters' housing cost burden: 24.87%
Median household income: $62,106
44. Nebraska
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 19.34%
Renters' housing cost burden: 25.91%
Median household income: $76,376
43. Missouri
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 20.68%
Renters' housing cost burden: 24.58%
Median household income: $71,589
42. North Dakota
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 20.36%
Renters' housing cost burden: 25.01%
Median household income: $77,871
41. Indiana
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 19.70%
Renters' housing cost burden: 26.49%
Median household income: $71,959
40. West Virginia
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 18.39%
Renters' housing cost burden: 28.32%
Median household income: $60,798
39. Ohio
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 19.68%
Renters' housing cost burden: 27.10%
Median household income: $72,212
38. Alabama
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 21.63%
Renters' housing cost burden: 25.51%
Median household income: $66,659
37. Michigan
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 20.39%
Renters' housing cost burden: 27.47%
Median household income: $72,389
36. Texas
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 22.63%
Renters' housing cost burden: 25.26%
Median household income: $79,721
35. Virginia
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 24.95%
Renters' housing cost burden: 23.66%
Median household income: $92,090
34. Wisconsin
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 21.50%
Renters' housing cost burden: 27.42%
Median household income: $77,488
33. Kentucky
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 20.34%
Renters' housing cost burden: 29.14%
Median household income: $64,526
32. Mississippi
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 20.13%
Renters' housing cost burden: 29.45%
Median household income: $59,127
31. Wyoming
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 24.91%
Renters' housing cost burden: 25.03%
Median household income: $75,532
30. Georgia
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 23.87%
Renters' housing cost burden: 26.84%
Median household income: $79,991
29. Alaska
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 24.21%
Renters' housing cost burden: 26.53%
Median household income: $95,665
28. Utah
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 30.01%
Renters' housing cost burden: 21.73%
Median household income: $96,658
27. North Carolina
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 24.35%
Renters' housing cost burden: 27.47%
Median household income: $73,958
26. Delaware
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 25.42%
Renters' housing cost burden: 27.43%
Median household income: $87,534
25. Louisiana
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 21.90%
Renters' housing cost burden: 31.42%
Median household income: $60,986
24. South Carolina
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 23.51%
Renters' housing cost burden: 29.99%
Median household income: $72,350
23. Pennsylvania
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 21.00%
Renters' housing cost burden: 34.04%
Median household income: $77,545
22. New Hampshire
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 24.68%
Renters' housing cost burden: 30.89%
Median household income: $99,782
21. Tennessee
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 24.87%
Renters' housing cost burden: 31.31%
Median household income: $71,997
20. New Mexico
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 23.72%
Renters' housing cost burden: 32.53%
Median household income: $67,816
19. Colorado
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 32.58%
Renters' housing cost burden: 24.59%
Median household income: $97,113
18. Idaho
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 30.88%
Renters' housing cost burden: 27.91%
Median household income: $81,166
17. Nevada
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 32.36%
Renters' housing cost burden: 27.02%
Median household income: $81,134
16. Maryland
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 24.00%
Renters' housing cost burden: 35.44%
Median household income: $102,905
15. New Jersey
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 26.13%
Renters' housing cost burden: 33.53%
Median household income: $104,294
14. Arizona
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 29.97%
Renters' housing cost burden: 30.46%
Median household income: $81,486
13. Illinois
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 19.70%
Renters' housing cost burden: 40.96%
Median household income: $83,211
12. Washington
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 32.97%
Renters' housing cost burden: 28.23%
Median household income: $99,389
11. Montana
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 30.47%
Renters' housing cost burden: 31.05%
Median household income: $75,340
10. Vermont
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 25.12%
Renters' housing cost burden: 37.55%
Median household income: $82,730
9. Connecticut
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 24.89%
Renters' housing cost burden: 38.58%
Median household income: $96,049
8. Oregon
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 33.56%
Renters' housing cost burden: 37.22%
Median household income: $85,220
7. Rhode Island
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 28.77%
Renters' housing cost burden: 43.57%
Median household income: $83,504
6. Florida
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 29.16%
Renters' housing cost burden: 44.69%
Median household income: $77,735
5. Maine
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 26.60%
Renters' housing cost burden: 52.72%
Median household income: $76,442
4. California
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 43.00%
Renters' housing cost burden: 39.84%
Median household income: $100,149
3. Massachusetts
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 33.67%
Renters' housing cost burden: 51.47%
Median household income: $104,828
2. New York
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 30.41%
Renters' housing cost burden: 61.28%
Median household income: $85,820
1. Hawaii
Homeowners' housing cost burden: 50.02%
Renters' housing cost burden: 62.52%
Median household income: $100,745
