Cities where more Gen Zers are rent burdened than millennials were

If you’re just starting out in your career and finding your rent is eating up more of your paycheck than you’d like, you’re not alone.

In fact, 3 out of 5 of Gen Z renters — those born between 1997 and 2012 — spend more than 30% of their income on rent, according to recent research from Zillow. 

Overall, the number of Gen Z renters who paid more than a third of their income to housing in 2022 — in other words, those who were “rent-burdened” — was down slightly from the number of millennials who found themselves in the same boat in 2012. (The 2022 data is the latest available.)

In some cities, though, researchers found an uptick in rent-burdened young people from a decade before. For the early career workers in those areas, that’s a troubling financial trend, says Zillow economist Kenny Lee.

“It’s really tough for young renters,” Lee tells CNBC Make It. “High rent burden can set young renters behind financially, impacting their ability to afford other essential expenses, let alone saving up for life goals down the road.”

Here are the top five cities where more members of Gen Z are rent burdened as of 2022 than their millennial counterparts were 10 years prior, according to Zillow.

Zillow’s researchers collected rental price and income data from the 30 largest metro areas in the U.S. Notably, the traditionally high-cost areas of New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco don’t crack the list of the toughest cities on Gen Z renters. 

A possible explanation behind the rising rents for young people away from the biggest markets: the Covid-19 pandemic, which researchers say caused an unexpected rush of demand for new housing from professionals leaving larger cities in favor of suburbs with more living space.

“The housing market really couldn’t keep up with this demand because of decades-long undersupply of housing,” Lee says.

But there’s a glimmer of hope for Gen Z renters seeking more affordable rental prices, Lee says: “The rental market has been stabilizing recently,” he says.

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