"For many households, the monthly rent check is so big that it eats up the majority of their paycheck — and the burden is growing," observed the Washington Post this week, in a story discussing a recent Harvard report on the subject and explaining that 11 million Americans, or about a quarter of all renters, spent more than half their income on rent, even outside of notorious high-rent cities like San Francisco and New York. "Financial advisers typically recommend that people spend less than a third of their pay on housing costs," notes the Post. But that's not how it's working out for many people.
"Middle class families are among those struggling the most," the Post reports. "The number of people making between $45,000 and $75,000 who spent more than 50 percent of their income on housing increased by 72 percent between 2013 and 2003. For people making between $30,000 and $45,000, the number of renters in that position increased by 69 percent."
Read the full story, and find out which cities are the most expensive places to rent, here. The Harvard report is here.