WASHINGTON, DC — More Americans struggled to pay rent on time in 2025, and the biggest jump showed up among middle-income households. The Urban Institute’s Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey found that 20% of adults ages 18 to 64 said they were unable to make a full rent payment at least once during the year, the highest share the survey has recorded since it began tracking the issue in 2019.
The numbers point to a housing problem that is no longer limited to the lowest-income renters. Even as lower-income households remain the most likely to fall behind, the latest findings show that rent stress has widened enough to reach families that sit above the poverty line and often have more housing options on paper.
Middle-income renters posted the largest increase in rent hardship
The sharpest move came in the survey’s middle-income category, which covers households earning 200% to 400% of the federal poverty line. Among renters in that group, the share reporting trouble paying rent rose from about 14.3% in 2024 to 21.6% in 2025.
That was the largest increase in any income group tracked in the survey. It suggests that pressure in the rental market is no longer confined to households with the thinnest financial margins. Instead, the strain is reaching renters who would normally be expected to have more room to absorb a higher bill or a temporary setback.
For a family of three, the lower edge of that middle-income band starts above $53,300 a year, based on the federal poverty line measure cited in the survey findings.
Lower-income households still face the highest odds of falling behind
Even with the faster rise among middle-income renters, households below 200% of the poverty line remain the most likely to miss rent. The Urban Institute findings show that lower-income renters still carry the heaviest burden, which means the housing market continues to punish families with the least financial cushion first and most often.
The broader takeaway is that worsening affordability can ripple upward. When more middle-income renters struggle, competition can intensify across the market, especially for apartments that are relatively affordable and attract applicants from several income bands at once.
That dynamic can leave lower-income households with even fewer choices. As more renters move down the price ladder, the most modest units can become harder to secure, adding another layer of pressure to households already at the front of the line for financial trouble.
Why tighter competition can make the rental ladder harder to climb
Urban Institute researcher Kathryn Reynolds said the housing ladder has become increasingly jammed. She noted that moderate- and middle-income households used to be more likely to move into homeownership rather than compete for the same rental units, but that pattern has become less reliable.
When households that might once have bought a home stay in the rental market longer, demand spreads across more of the supply. That can make affordable apartments harder to find and can push renters of different income levels into the same pool of available units.
Reynolds said that shift creates even more pressure on the lowest-income renters because they are then competing for the same moderately priced homes and apartments as households with somewhat greater resources.
Federal Reserve analysis found middle-income sentiment sliding closer to lower earners
A separate analysis from the Richmond Federal Reserve adds another sign of stress. It found that middle-income consumer sentiment has started to look more like the outlook of lower-income households than that of higher-income Americans.
The same analysis also showed that middle-income Americans were more likely than lower earners to work multiple jobs. College-educated workers accounted for half of all people holding more than one job, according to the Richmond Fed findings.
Those patterns suggest that the strain is not limited to rent alone. Households may be juggling work, bills and housing costs at the same time, which can leave less room to save or recover when one expense rises unexpectedly.
More housing supply and lower costs could ease the pressure
Reynolds and other housing analysts point to more supply as one of the clearest ways to reduce the squeeze, especially when that supply includes lower-cost apartments and homes. A larger stock of affordable units would give renters more options and could reduce the bidding pressure on the cheapest listings.
Lower borrowing costs could also help by making it easier for some households to buy homes instead of remaining in the rental market. Cooler prices for basic necessities would further improve stability, since housing costs rarely rise in isolation.
The overall message from the survey is sobering: financial pressures once most closely associated with poverty are spreading higher up the income scale, while the households already at the bottom continue to face the toughest odds.
A widening affordability problem with no quick fix
Reynolds said the added pressure on middle-income renters only makes the problem harder for lower-income families. As more households compete for the same moderately priced units, the supply of homes that are still within reach can shrink even further.
That leaves policymakers, builders and landlords facing a familiar but stubborn challenge: how to create enough housing that working families can afford without forcing lower-income renters to fight over too few options. For now, the survey suggests the strain is spreading faster than relief.
More on what homes, rents and new builds are doing near you, on RHS Commoner.
