An estimated 8 million Americans are behind in rent, according to a new report out from LendingTree, based on analysis of U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey data. But that isn’t the whole story, as some 3.6 million adults are living in households rent-free.
Of the 13.17 percent of the nation’s adult renters behind on payment, the states with the largest share of delinquent rent are New York, Nevada and Louisiana. Across these three states, an average of 19.72 percent of adult renters are living in households behind on rent payments. In the states with the smallest share of renters not caught up on rent—Kansas, Nebraska and Arkansas—that figure is 6.23 percent.
Surprisingly, California, the most populous state in the U.S., did not crack the top 10 states with renters behind on rent. Though it should be noted that a number of COVID-induced rent protections only just recently ended, which means updated data may not have been available.
Nationwide, 3,560,345 adults—5.81 percent of adult renters—live in a household that doesn’t pay rent. People in these types of households don’t own their home free and clear or with a mortgage, nor do they live with someone who does. Instead, people in these types of households could be caretakers provided their home rent-free in exchange for their services.
Mississippi, West Virginia and Alaska are the states where the largest share of people live rent-free. In these three states, an average of 13.21 percent of adults live in renter-occupied households that aren’t paying rent. That’s more than 11 percentage points higher than in the states with the smallest share of renters living rent-free—Colorado, Indiana and Utah—where the average is 1.92 percent.