News Summary

• Nearly 90% of the state’s renter households making $29,999 or less were considered cost-burdened, most of them shelling out more than half of their income to stay housed.It’s been increasingly difficult for low-income households to find housing they can afford in recent years..
• The steep increase in housing costs has also fueled eviction filings and homelessness in the state’s major metro areas, housing advocates say.Rents in Texas skyrocketed as the state’s population boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic..
• More than half of the state’s 4.2 million renters spend at least 30% of their income on rent and utilities, according to a Harvard University report..
• But rents are still considerably higher than they were before the pandemic struck.“Housing instability and housing insecurity is higher than it's ever been,” said Ben Martin, research director for Texas Housers, a research and advocacy group..
• “Even as rents have stabilized, they've stabilized at this level that's just completely unsustainable and unmanageable for low-income households.”Low-income earners have borne the brunt of the rise in rents, especially as the state’s supply of cheap rental housing has dried up..
• By 2022, that number had shrunk to 452,000, driven in part by rent increases amid the state’s robust growth.Middle-income households are facing more pressure, too..