Rising numbers of homeowners are burdened by high housing costs. That is the main finding in our new research brief, which explores the most recent American Community Survey data and what it reveals about the state of housing affordability for homeowners. It finds that the greatest burdens are being shouldered by those with the lowest incomes, many of whom are older adults, households of color, or otherwise vulnerable, and these homeowners have few options available to get immediate help.

The number of homeowners with cost burdens—defined as paying more than 30 percent of their incomes on housing costs—rose by another 650,000 households in 2023 to a total of 20.3 million, which represents fully 23.7 percent of all homeowner households (Figure 1).

Figure 1: The Number and Share of Homeowners with Cost Burdens Is Rising

Notes: Cost-burdened (severely cost-burdened) households pay more than 30% (more than 50%) of their income on housing. Data from 2020 are omitted due to data collection issues experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, precluding comparisons with other years of data.

Source: JCHS Tabulations of US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.

Cost burden rates have been growing across the country, but many of the most significant increases have been in traditionally more affordable areas. Metros such as Milwaukee, Scranton, and Oklahoma City, each of which had homeowner cost burden rates under 20 percent in 2019, all saw their share of homeowners with burdens grow by more than twice the rate of increase nationwide.

Lowest-income homeowners, who already have the highest rates of burden, have seen the largest increases since 2019 (Figure 2). The cost burden rate for the 11 million homeowner households with incomes below $30,000 rose 5.4 percentage points in the last four years to reach 74.2 percent in 2023. This was the highest rate of burdens for this income group on records dating back over 20 years—exceeding the previous peak of 71.4 percent hit in 2010 in the wake of the Great Recession. Severe burdens among lower-income homeowners also hit a new record high in 2023, at 55 percent, equating to 6 million homeowners with income below $30,000 paying more than half their incomes on housing costs.

Figure 2: Cost Burden Rates Are Highest and Rising Most Rapidly for Lowest Income Homeowners

Notes: Cost-burdened (severely cost-burdened) households pay more than 30% (more than 50%) of their income on housing. Incomes are adjusted to constant 2023 dollars using the CPU-U for All Items. Data from 2020 are omitted due to data collection issues experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, precluding comparisons with other years of data.

Source: JCHS Tabulations of US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.

A disproportionate share of the recent growth in homeowner cost burdens was among older adults. Indeed, nearly half (1.7 million, or 47 percent) of the 3.6 million overall increase in cost-burdened homeowners between 2019 and 2023 were those aged 65 and over (Figure 3). As a result, there were 7.9 million burdened homeowners aged 65 and over in 2023, which represented more than one-in-four owners (27.6 percent) in this group.

Figure 3: Older Homeowners Accounted for Nearly Half of the Increase in Cost Burdens Since 2019

Notes: Cost-burdened (severely cost-burdened) households pay more than 30% (more than 50%) of their income on housing. Incomes are adjusted to constant 2023 dollars using the CPU-U for All Items. Data from 2020 are omitted due to data collection issues experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, precluding comparisons with other years of data.

Source: JCHS Tabulations of US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.

The significant growth in burdens among older homeowners is evidence that much of the recent increase in homeowner cost burdens is from long-time homeowners facing rising costs of homeownership rather than from new buyers stretching their budgets to afford a home. While mortgages remained the largest single housing expense for most homeowners, non-mortgage costs of home insurance, property taxes, utilities and routine home maintenance have increased more rapidly since the pandemic. This has raised costs and burden rates even for homeowners who have locked in historically low interest rates on their mortgages.

The new data show that cost burdens are disproportionately faced by Black and Hispanic homeowners and are rising most rapidly for single-person and single-parent households who rely on a single income to pay for housing. The brief includes a variety of detailed data and appendix tables to dig further into how burdens are affecting different groups of homeowners.

After detailing how the rising costs of ownership are putting increased financial pressure on millions of homeowners, the brief concludes by describing the increased urgency to alleviate these pressures and some ways to do so—both through policies that help to reduce monthly housing costs on a number of items as well as with immediate and direct assistance to help distressed homeowners pay bills if they fall behind.