Cape Coral's cost of living: City ranks in top 6 in U.S. for most-burdened renters

The city of Cape Coral is in the top 10 metro areas with the largest share of cost-burdened renters as rent growth exceeds income growth and worsened through the pandemic, according to a study by Apartment List.

According to U.S. Census data, the median household income in Cape Coral is $65,282, and the median gross rent is $1,456.

What is cost-burdened?

A household is considered "cost-burdened" if the housing cost accounts for more than 30% of gross household income, and those who spend more than 50% of their income on monthly housing costs are considered to be "severely" cost-burdened.

All but six of the nation’s 100 largest metros saw the rent burden worsen from 2019 to 2022.

Across much of the country, rents have spiked, but incomes have not kept pace, leading to housing costs eating up an ever larger portion of household budgets.

According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and statistics from the American Community Survey analyzed by the website Apartment List, rent prices have been growing faster than incomes can keep pace, which is a notable change from pre-pandemic years.

State overview Florida housing increases leave state with most cost-burdened renters in the country

Cape Coral news 7 questions for Cape Coral councilmember Bill Steinke, from growth to workforce housing

What were the top 15 Metro areas with the largest share of cost-burdened renters?

Florida has five of the top 15 metro areas with the largest share of cost-burdened renters, a feat rivaled by California.

1. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, 65%

2. Urban-Honolulu, Hawaii, 61%

3. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sandford, 61%

4. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California, 60%

5. Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, New York, 60%

6. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, 59%

7. Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, California, 59%

8. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, California, 59%

9. Deltona-Daytona-Ormond Beach, 59%

10. Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nevada, 59%

11. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, California, 59%

12. North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, 58%

13. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California, 58%

14. New Orleans-Metairie, Louisiana, 58%

15. Springfield, Massachusetts, 58%

Rent has spiked

As of 2022, there are 21.8 million rent-burdened households, more than ever before.

The majority of the increases are attributable to a surge in the number of severely burdened households who spend more than half their incomes on rent.

The Apartment List report stated that the share of renters who pay more than 30% of their income in rent has shot up to the highest levels since 2005 with 51.9% of the nation's renters cost-burdened by their housing costs in 2022.

"The number of cost-burdened renter households has spiked by 1.9 million from 2019 to 2022, while the number of non-burdened renter households fell by 957,000," the Apartment List report stated.

What does the trajectory look like in the future?

According to the report, in 2023 and beyond rent growth exceeds income growth and rising nominal rent will need to see a reverse in trends before there's an impactful improvement in cost burden.

However, rent growth may continue to see an upward trajectory despite rents being currently down year-over-year according to the latest Apartment List Rent Index.

"Our data provide strong evidence that marketwide rent measures will continue to fall, but this may not happen quickly enough to trigger an immediate turnaround in cost burden rates," the report said.

Real Estate Business Reporter Derek Gilliam with The Sarasota Herald-Tribune contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Cape Coral ranks high with most-burdened renters in the county