In 2025, more Americans than ever were unable to pay their rent on time, including middle-income renters above the poverty line.
Here's what to know
The Urban Institute's Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey, which has tracked this question since 2019, found its highest share yet in 2025: 20% of surveyed Americans ages 18 to 64 said they were unable to make their full rent payment at least once that year.
According to a report highlighted by Business Insider, among households earning 200% to 400% of the federal poverty line — the report's middle-income category — the share of renters reporting trouble paying rent rose from about 14.3% in 2024 to 21.6% in 2025 — the largest increase of any income group.
While that pattern points to rental strain spreading beyond the bottom of the income scale, renters below that 200%-of-poverty threshold — including families of three making $53,300 or less — remain the most likely to fall behind.
More background
Because middle-income households often have a wider range of housing choices than lower-income renters, a shift toward cheaper apartments can intensify competition across the market.
Kathryn Reynolds, one of the Urban Institute report's authors, described the housing ladder as increasingly jammed. "We used to have a lot of moderate and middle-income households entering into home ownership and not competing for the same rental units," Reynolds said.
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Another sign of that pressure comes from a separate Richmond Federal Reserve analysis, which found that middle-income consumer sentiment has begun to resemble that of lower-income earners more than higher-income households. The same analysis also found that middle-income Americans were more likely than lower earners to work multiple jobs, while college-educated people made up half of all multiple-jobholders.
What can be done?
More housing supply, especially lower-cost homes and apartments, could help ease competition. Lower borrowing costs and cooler prices for basic necessities could also give households more stability.
Financial pressures once more closely associated with poverty are showing up more often among households higher up the income ladder.
"That just puts even more pressure on that group of lowest-income households, in terms of competition for units that are really moderately priced," Reynolds said. "It's going to be a difficult problem to solve."
Where can I learn more?
These stories look at other pressures making housing less affordable for American households.
• In California, disaster survivors faced rent hikes after wildfires that deepened housing strain.
• In California, sky-high insurance rates and climate migration pushed more households toward homelessness.
• Across the U.S., median home values now demand six-figure incomes for buyers.
• Nationwide, summer utility bills are climbing as extreme heat squeezes already stretched budgets.
• In Massachusetts, a new ADU law could add thousands of lower-cost homes.
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