Tenant households
As of the second quarter of 2026, there are 46.8 million tenant households, making up 35% of total households in the United States.
The State of
the
Nation’s
Tenants
Today’s housing market is a catastrophic failure, shaped by the relentless prioritization of those who make money from our homes. Housing is one of the most central economic and political pain points in American life.
Today over 100 million Americans rent their homes. Among the tenant class, tens of millions face the same pressures: rising rents, displacement, deteriorating conditions, and diminishing control over one of our most basic needs. The rent is too damn high. Across all 50 states, housing is the single biggest monthly expense for most poor and working people. Rent inflation has outpaced wage growth, forcing tenants to make impossible choices between rent, groceries, and healthcare. The national debate about housing supply misses the point — we need supply that people can actually afford.
Something’s got to give. The crisis motivates an explosion in organizing and the widespread popularity for rent caps, public sector investments, and other policies to protect tenants. This report is the Tenant Union Federation’s first attempt to compile the available facts and figures to further our understanding of the political and economic realities facing tenants — in other words, The State of The Nation’s Tenants.
Rent inflation
According to the Consumer Price Index, rents rose 2.6% between November 2025 and September 2026.
Median rent
After a period of historic inflation, the median rent across the 50 largest metros for a one bedroom apartment is $1,572.
Supply shortage
There is a shortage of 7.1 million affordable and available rental units for extremely low-income tenants. There is not a single state or major metropolitan area that has an adequate supply of housing to meet the needs of its lowest-income tenants. This is not just a story of under-production, it’s a story of under-regulation.
Wages and rent
The average minimum-wage worker in the U.S. must work 116 hours per week—nearly three full-time jobs—to afford a modest two-bedroom rental home. To afford a modest one-bedroom rental home, they would need to work 97 hours per week, or 2.4 full-time jobs.