Residential tenants across all income levels and ages are struggling to make rent payments, according to the national "Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey" by the Urban Institute.
One in five renters between the ages of 18 and 64 reported that they either didn’t make a full rent payment or were late at least one month in 2025, according to the annual report by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit research organization. That’s the largest share ever recorded by the report, up from the 16.5% who said they missed a payment in 2024 and the 16% share who were behind in 2019.
The increase was sharpest among middle-income households, where missed payments rose from 14.3% in 2024 to 21.6% in 2025. Low-income households had the largest share of missed payments, at 27.8%, rising from 26.4% in 2024. But even high-income renters saw an uptick in delinquency, with 6.9% missing payments in 2025 compared to 4.9% a year earlier.
The report defined middle-income renters as those making between 200% and 400% of the federal poverty line, translating to $31,300 to $62,600 for an individual or $53,300 to $106,600 for a family of three. Low- and high-income households were those making below and above that, respectively.
| Renter income | Missed payments 2024 | Missed payments 2025 |
| < $31,300 | 26.4% | 27.8% |
| $31,300-$62,600 | 14.3% | 21.6% |
| > $62,600 | 4.9% | 6.9% |
| Source: Urban Institute |
The share of renters who had difficulty making rent payments grew in every region but the West, which saw a decline:
| Region | Share of renters in 2024 | Share of renters in 2025 |
| Midwest | 19.4% | 19.7% |
| Northeast | 15.9% | 19.8% |
| South | 15.4% | 23.3% |
| West | 16.5% | 15.7% |
| Source: Urban Institute |
Homeowners also saw an increase in missed mortgage payments, from 6.8% in 2024 to 7.2% in 2025. Combined, incomplete payments for both groups rose from 10.2% to 11.7% year over year.
Dan Emmanuel, director of federal research at the National Low Income Housing Coalition, told Homes.com News in an email that the increase reflects a disconnect between affordable rental products and renters.
“Affordability is not just a catchphrase; it’s an ongoing challenge millions of renters face every day,” Emmanuel wrote.
He cited research his organization released earlier this year in a report called "The Gap," which found that no state or major metropolis has an adequate supply of affordable housing for extremely low-income renters and that only one in four applicants for federal assistance ever receive any.
“The private market, on its own, does not produce or maintain an adequate supply of housing at rents that extremely low-income renters can afford,” he said. “Subsidies are needed to bridge the gap between renters' incomes and market rents … We already have housing programs that can effectively address the housing affordability issues faced by the lowest-income renters and renters more generally. The challenge is finding the political will to adequately fund them.”
This story was originally reported by Trevor Fraser for Homes.com News.