Rent Requires More Than a Third of Wages in 75% of U.S. Counties Analyzed

Renters in a majority of counties studied across the U.S. are pouring more than a third of their salaries into rent, according to new data by ATTOM, a real estate analytics firm.

The amount people spend on rent comes as the monthly cost continues to decline year over year, with the median asking rent across the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas at $1,689, according to the Realtor.com® December 2025 Rent Report.

The ATTOM report reveals that renting a three-bedroom property consumed more than a third of a typical resident’s wages in 76.9% of the 364 counties analyzed.

The West has people putting that much of their wages toward rent in 95.4% of counties. This is followed by 90.7% of counties in the Northeast; 77.7% of counties in the South; and 40.7% of counties in the Midwest.

"Renters looking to put down roots, young families who need more space, professionals relocating for work, and many others are facing a very tough choice," said Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM.

But there are several counties where it's more affordable to rent and people do not have to put as much of their paycheck toward leasing an apartment.

The most affordable county for renting among those analyzed is Jefferson County, AL, where renting consumed 20.2% of a typical resident’s wages. This is followed by: Wayne County, MI (21.3%); Shelby County, TN (22.1%); Black Hawk County, IA (22.3%); and Peoria County, IL (22.4%).

In counties with populations over 1 million, these were the most affordable places to rent: Cuyahoga County, OH (24.2%); Allegheny County, PA (24.9%); Philadelphia County, PA (25.1%); and Santa Clara County, CA (27.1%).

Among the markets with populations over 1 million, there were the least affordable for renting: Suffolk County, NY (97.8%), Orange County, CA (71.9%); Nassau County, NY (68.5%); Riverside County, CA (67.7%); and Los Angeles County, CA (65.5%).

Sizing it up

The type of unit will determine how much you're paying for rent, whether it's a studio or two-bedroom, but overall all unit sizes experienced rent declines again in December, according to Realtor.com economists.

Based on national median price by unit size, rental December trends showed a mostly consistent pattern across all types of rental inventory: 0-, 1-, and 2-bedroom units all saw rent declines of 1% or less. Studio units had the smallest decline, while 2-bedroom units had the largest.