The Magic City is not just expensive. It’s the most expensive.
Miami ranked as the least affordable metro for renters in the U.S. last year, according to a new report.
Nearly 63 percent of Miami renters spent more than 30 percent of their income on rent in 2016, according to Apartment List. Miami ranked the worst at No. 100, while Ogden, Utah, has the lowest share, at 37.9 percent.
In Miami, rents have increased nearly 16 percent between 2005 and 2016, but renters’ incomes only rose 5.7 percent. A substantial portion of the city’s renters – 33.8 percent – spent more than 50 percent of their incomes on rent, putting them in the severely cost-burdened category, according to Apartment List.
The online rental marketplace analyzed Census data on renter incomes and rents and found that nearly half of all renters in the country were cost-burdened in 2016, which was actually the lowest level since 2008. That’s because high-income renters who would typically have purchased houses have been delaying homeownership and low-income renters may be living with family or pushed into cheaper markets.
Homeownership may finally be back on the rise, though. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, homeownership rose to 63.9 percent in the third quarter of the year, the highest rate it has reached since 2014.
Five of the top 10 worst-affordable metros are in California, including Fresno, Oxnard, Riverside, Los Angeles and San Diego.
A study released in September found that renters in some South Florida neighborhoods could save as much as 45 percent splitting rent with a roommate rather than paying for a one-bedroom apartment.