ryanwaked.com / snapshot / income-rent-burdenfigure

Median income vs. rent burden in major U.S. metros

Median household income versus rent as a share of household income. Markers are sized by total population for the 55 U.S. metropolitan areas with more than one million residents (2023).

27.5%30%32.5%35%37.5%$60k$80k$100k$120k$140k$160kRent as a share of incomeMedian household incomeLos Angeles Metro AreaMemphis Metro AreaMiami Metro AreaPittsburgh Metro AreaSan Francisco Metro AreaWashington Metro AreaSan Jose Metro Area
Add / remove metros
Selection (55)
What this shows

Each point is a metropolitan statistical area with more than one million residents, sized by its total population. The horizontal axis is median household income; the vertical axis is median gross rent as a percent of household income (a standard cost-burden measure). Hover a point for its metro and values, or use the selector to focus on specific metros. Nothing here is asserted beyond what the axes and sizes show.

Data sourceU.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (5-year, 2023)
Get the data

Sources and processing

This snapshot is based on the following source.
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (5-year, 2023)

The American Community Survey (ACS) is a continuous survey run by the U.S. Census Bureau that produces detailed social, economic, housing, and demographic estimates for the United States. The 5-year estimates pool 60 months of responses to give reliable figures for geographies of every size, including metropolitan statistical areas. This snapshot draws on the 2023 release, covering 2019–2023.

Retrieved onJune 27, 2026
Retrieved fromcensus.gov
Metro demographics, income & housing (ACS 5-year, 2023)data warehouse · census_acs5_2023

How this data is processed

Every dataset behind a snapshot is loaded into this site's data warehouse, where it is standardized and documented with its schema, provenance, and governance. The analysis code that produced this figure is not published; the underlying dataset is fully referenceable in the warehouse.

Reuse this work

Source data is subject to the terms of its original provider, cited above. The figures and accompanying text on this page may be reused with attribution to ryanwaked.com.

Citation

In-line citation
U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year (2023) – via ryanwaked.com
Full citation
U.S. Census Bureau (2023). "American Community Survey, 5-year estimates" [dataset], table census_acs5_2023. Compiled and presented by Ryan Waked. Retrieved June 27, 2026 from https://ryanwaked.com/data#census_acs5_2023.