US states ranked by how much of their income residents spend on housing, from least to most

• Housing costs can vary across US states based on home prices, energy costs, and local wages.
• Hawaii has the highest cost burden, with both renters and owners spending over half of their income.
• New York has a gap of over 30 percentage points in housing burdens between renters and homeowners.

Whether you're shopping for a new home or just signed a lease on an apartment, you're no doubt aware of the high cost of housing — and the pressure it puts on tight budgets.

To understand how housing costs affect people across the US, it helps to examine how rent and mortgage payments fit into local living costs, including wages and energy costs.

For years, housing experts have cited keeping housing costs under 30% of monthly income as a rule of thumb for affordability, but in some states, this is far from a reality for many.

A recent WalletHub study examined housing affordability across the US, measuring how much of the median income renters and homeowners in each state spend on housing each month.

The study used data from the Council for Community and Economic Research, the US Census Bureau, Zillow, and WalletHub's in-house research to measure rent, mortgage, and home energy costs across all 50 states, which were then compared to each state's median monthly income to determine the burden of housing costs.

In Hawaii, renters spend an average of 62.5% of their income on housing costs, and homeowners spend 50% on average, the study reported.

While in some states the housing burden of homeowners and renters can be nearly equal — in Oklahoma, renters pay 20.3% and homeowners pay 20.4% of their income on housing costs — in others, there are significant gaps between the costs of renting and owning.

New York leads the gap, with homeowners in the state spending an average of 30.4% on housing while renters spend 61.3%.

"The current social and economic environment is significantly impacting monthly housing bill spending," Andrew Burnstine, an associate professor of business at Lynn University, said in the study. "This means that a larger portion of household budgets is now dedicated to simply keeping a roof overhead."

In 20 states, renters can be considered housing-burdened, or spending over 30% of their income on housing.

We ranked all 50 US states by how much both renters and homeowners spend on housing, on average. We also listed the median household income for each state, as reported on the most recent available American Community Survey data from the US Census Bureau, which reflects incomes in 2024.

See where each state falls.

50. Iowa

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 17.26%

Renters' housing cost burden: 20.95%

Median household income: $75,501

49. Oklahoma

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 20.36%

Renters' housing cost burden: 20.29%

Median household income: $66,148

48. Kansas

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 18.64%

Renters' housing cost burden: 23.55%

Median household income: $75,514

47. South Dakota

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 21.18%

Renters' housing cost burden: 21.86%

Median household income: $76,881

46. Minnesota

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 22.41%

Renters' housing cost burden: 22.05%

Median household income: $87,117

45. Arkansas

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 19.93%

Renters' housing cost burden: 24.87%

Median household income: $62,106

44. Nebraska

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 19.34%

Renters' housing cost burden: 25.91%

Median household income: $76,376

43. Missouri

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 20.68%

Renters' housing cost burden: 24.58%

Median household income: $71,589

42. North Dakota

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 20.36%

Renters' housing cost burden: 25.01%

Median household income: $77,871

41. Indiana

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 19.70%

Renters' housing cost burden: 26.49%

Median household income: $71,959

40. West Virginia

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 18.39%

Renters' housing cost burden: 28.32%

Median household income: $60,798

39. Ohio

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 19.68%

Renters' housing cost burden: 27.10%

Median household income: $72,212

38. Alabama

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 21.63%

Renters' housing cost burden: 25.51%

Median household income: $66,659

37. Michigan

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 20.39%

Renters' housing cost burden: 27.47%

Median household income: $72,389

36. Texas

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 22.63%

Renters' housing cost burden: 25.26%

Median household income: $79,721

35. Virginia

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 24.95%

Renters' housing cost burden: 23.66%

Median household income: $92,090

34. Wisconsin

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 21.50%

Renters' housing cost burden: 27.42%

Median household income: $77,488

33. Kentucky

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 20.34%

Renters' housing cost burden: 29.14%

Median household income: $64,526

32. Mississippi

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 20.13%

Renters' housing cost burden: 29.45%

Median household income: $59,127

31. Wyoming

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 24.91%

Renters' housing cost burden: 25.03%

Median household income: $75,532

30. Georgia

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 23.87%

Renters' housing cost burden: 26.84%

Median household income: $79,991

29. Alaska

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 24.21%

Renters' housing cost burden: 26.53%

Median household income: $95,665

28. Utah

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 30.01%

Renters' housing cost burden: 21.73%

Median household income: $96,658

27. North Carolina

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 24.35%

Renters' housing cost burden: 27.47%

Median household income: $73,958

26. Delaware

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 25.42%

Renters' housing cost burden: 27.43%

Median household income: $87,534

25. Louisiana

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 21.90%

Renters' housing cost burden: 31.42%

Median household income: $60,986

24. South Carolina

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 23.51%

Renters' housing cost burden: 29.99%

Median household income: $72,350

23. Pennsylvania

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 21.00%

Renters' housing cost burden: 34.04%

Median household income: $77,545

22. New Hampshire

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 24.68%

Renters' housing cost burden: 30.89%

Median household income: $99,782

21. Tennessee

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 24.87%

Renters' housing cost burden: 31.31%

Median household income: $71,997

20. New Mexico

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 23.72%

Renters' housing cost burden: 32.53%

Median household income: $67,816

19. Colorado

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 32.58%

Renters' housing cost burden: 24.59%

Median household income: $97,113

18. Idaho

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 30.88%

Renters' housing cost burden: 27.91%

Median household income: $81,166

17. Nevada

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 32.36%

Renters' housing cost burden: 27.02%

Median household income: $81,134

16. Maryland

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 24.00%

Renters' housing cost burden: 35.44%

Median household income: $102,905

15. New Jersey

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 26.13%

Renters' housing cost burden: 33.53%

Median household income: $104,294

14. Arizona

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 29.97%

Renters' housing cost burden: 30.46%

Median household income: $81,486

13. Illinois

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 19.70%

Renters' housing cost burden: 40.96%

Median household income: $83,211

12. Washington

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 32.97%

Renters' housing cost burden: 28.23%

Median household income: $99,389

11. Montana

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 30.47%

Renters' housing cost burden: 31.05%

Median household income: $75,340

10. Vermont

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 25.12%

Renters' housing cost burden: 37.55%

Median household income: $82,730

9. Connecticut

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 24.89%

Renters' housing cost burden: 38.58%

Median household income: $96,049

8. Oregon

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 33.56%

Renters' housing cost burden: 37.22%

Median household income: $85,220

7. Rhode Island

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 28.77%

Renters' housing cost burden: 43.57%

Median household income: $83,504

6. Florida

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 29.16%

Renters' housing cost burden: 44.69%

Median household income: $77,735

5. Maine

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 26.60%

Renters' housing cost burden: 52.72%

Median household income: $76,442

4. California

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 43.00%

Renters' housing cost burden: 39.84%

Median household income: $100,149

3. Massachusetts

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 33.67%

Renters' housing cost burden: 51.47%

Median household income: $104,828

2. New York

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 30.41%

Renters' housing cost burden: 61.28%

Median household income: $85,820

1. Hawaii

Homeowners' housing cost burden: 50.02%

Renters' housing cost burden: 62.52%

Median household income: $100,745

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