'Cost-burdened renters' on the rise in Philadelphia
Most experts (and certainly your bank) agree that 30 percent of your gross monthly income is what you should be spending on rent each month. Spending more than that will put you into a category economists call "cost-burdened renters." If you're spending more than that in Philadelphia, the good news is that you have plenty of company.
According to a new study by researchers at Apartment List more than half of the 43 million renter households nationwide are considered cost-burdened. In Philadelphia, 57.5 percent of renters are paying more than 30 percent of their income toward rent. In Pennsylvania overall, that number is nearly 51 percent.
Apartment List economists looked at rental trends since 2007, and those numbers in Philadelphia – like nearly every city on the list – peaked in 2010, with modest decreases since then. Researchers said the data indicates that renter incomes have failed to keep pace with rising rental costs, even when adjusted for inflation.
For a look at how Philadelphia rental costs have ebbed and flowed (but mostly flowed) since 2009, check out Rental Jungle, where researchers say an apartment in Philadelphia will cost you an average of $1,361 a month.
The national population of renters – at more than 43 million households – is on the rise, as home ownership rates sit at the lowest they have been since 1967. Across the country, 52 percent of renters are cost-burdened.
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