The number of renter households in America grew 1.9% year over year in the second quarter to a record 45.2 million, according to a report from Redfin.
That’s more than three times faster than the number of homeowner households, which grew 0.6% to a record 86.3 million.
Driving the trend is higher montage rates and record high home prices, which are keeping many prospective homebuyers on the sidelines.
The number of renter households grew at the second-fastest pace since 2021, while the number of homeowner households grew at the slowest pace since 2019.
Growth in the number of renter households hit a peak of 2.8% in the first quarter of 2024. That was the largest gain since 2015.
“The cost of both renting and buying a home has skyrocketed in recent years, but the affordability crunch isn’t quite as severe in the rental market,” says Sheharyar Bokhari, senior economist for Redfin, in a release. “That’s because America has been building a lot of apartments to keep pace with robust demand from renters.
“The country’s leaders should heed this lesson when considering how to improve affordability in the homebuying market: When there’s more housing to go around, prices don’t increase as fast,” Bokhari adds.
Although rents aren’t growing as quickly as homebuying costs, finding an affordable place to live is still a challenge for many renters. June’s $1,654 median U.S. asking rent was the highest since October 2022 and only $46 below the all-time high. Nearly two in five renters don’t think they’ll ever own a home.
Of the major U.S. cities, Los Angeles has the highest share of renters at 53%.
It’s followed by San Diego (52.4%) New York (50.1%), Fresno, Calif. (49%) and Austin, Texas, (46.3%).
Rentership rates are lower than average in parts of the country where it’s more affordable to buy a home. In Worcester, Mass., 23.2% of households are renter households—the lowest share among the metros Redfin analyzed. It’s followed by North Port, Fla. (23.3%), Albany, N.Y. (25.6%), Rochester, N.Y. (25.7%) and Syracuse, N.Y. (26.2%).
Photo: Étienne Beauregard-Riverin