FOR RENT sign in the window of an old brick building

iStock photo illustration

While the median asking rent has dropped marginally year-over-year, Greater Boston renters are still faced with a high financial burden.

A recent Realtor.com report shows that the median rent of $3,022 makes up 33.6 percent of the typical Boston renter’s income. This is the fifth-largest share in the nation.

“One way to think about housing affordability is to use the 30% rule of thumb, where housing expenses including rent or mortgage, utilities and HOAs or other fees should not exceed more than 30% of your income,” Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, said in a statement. “Amid easing rents and growing incomes, rental affordability improved in a majority of U.S. major metros compared to last year, and crucially, typical asking rent is less than 30% of the typical household income nationwide. Although this is great news for many renters, housing affordability is still a challenge as rents are still considerably higher than before the pandemic and still above the 30% threshold in six of the metros Realtor.com examined.”

Nationwide, the median rent is $1,753 which is a 0.3 percent decrease year-over-year but a 20.1 percent over five years prior.

Still, a recent Zillow analysis found that the monthly mortgage payment on the median Greater Boston home that sold in August was nearly $500 greater than what its economists measured as the median rent for the region.

Rents this high reflect how competitive the market is in Boston.

According to a recent report from RentCafe, Boston landed in the top 20 in terms of market competitiveness nationwide, with 13 applicants vying for each open apartment at the large, professionally-managed buildings that make up the data set of its parent company Yardi Matrix.

RentCafe also found 94.9 percent of apartments are occupied, leaving little supply for prospective renters.

Boston Renter Is One-Third of Typical Income

by Sam Minton time to read: 1 min
0