Americans Owe $3,700 in Back Rent, on Average

Rent debt is endemic throughout the United States. Not all states are suffering equally, though.

Approximately 15 percent of rental households in the U.S. are currently behind on their payments, according to a new study from the nonprofit Surgo Ventures, with arrears totaling an average of $3,700 per household.

While every state’s average rent debt is above $2,000 per household, average arrears can vary by thousands of dollars in states where renters are struggling the most and least, according to an analysis by CNBC.

One of the nation’s most remote states, Hawaii, sports the highest average rent debt. Renters in the Aloha State are behind by an average of $5,692 per household. Meanwhile, renters owe the least in West Virginia, where arrears average $2,300 per household.

States where the cost-of-living is higher tend to be home to the highest average rent debts. Arrears in California amount to $5,281 per rental household. In New York, renters are behind an average of $4,408.

In Florida, renters are faring slightly better. The average household owes $4,073 in back rent. The Midwest region has a rosier outlook than some of the major coastal hubs, Illinois included, where the average rent debt is $3,406.

Over 3 million renters in debt could soon be in danger of being evicted as the fate of the extended federal eviction moratorium is litigated.