Florida least affordable place to rent in U.S.

Florida has become one of the least affordable places to live in the United States as home prices and rents rapidly increase nationwide, according to multiple studies.

Rents have been rising throughout the country, fueled by inflation and people relocating throughout the pandemic, among other factors, making the average cost of a one and two-bedroom rent increase 19% nationally.

“State to state, rent prices are up nearly across the board compared to this time last year. More than 95 percent of states have seen significant increases in rent prices for both apartment types,” Rent.com reported.

Yet, four of the top 10 cities with the largest yearly increase in rents from February 2021 to February 2022 were in Florida, according to Realtor.com. Miami ranked number one in the list, with an increase of 55.3% in just a year. Orlando came in second with a 35.4% increase in rents compared to the previous year. The Tampa area ranked in third place, with an increase of 32.3% in rents over the year. Similarly, Jacksonville ranked eighth with a 24.9% increase.

According to Realtor.com, Florida has the “lowest rental affordability” in the nation. “In February 2022, 14 of the top 50 metros had a rent share higher than 30% relative to the median household income,” Realtor.com reported. “The least affordable rental market was Miami, Fla., followed by western and Sun Belt metros like Los Angeles, Calif., Riverside, Calif., Tampa, Fla., and San Diego, Calif.”

Renting prices throughout the state have been rapidly increasing, according to Rent.com. For example, a one-bedroom in Tampa goes for $1,682, a 32.4% increase from last year. In St. Petersburg, rents increased 19.6% to $1,890. In Orlando, 11.2% to $1,401. In Miami, the increase was of 21.6% to $2,744.

Two bedrooms in the sunshine state have also dramatically increased. Tampa’s two-bedroom rates increased by 41.9% to $2,178, while Miami’s rose by 41.7% to $3,425. In Jacksonville, rents went up by 15.6% to $1,651. In Orlando rents increased by 30.2% to $2,587 and in Hialeah to $2,953, rising 35.6%.

The rents in the state are taking up more of the resident’s income than expected, on par with cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles. An average Miami rent uses 60% of a household’s income. The figure is similarly high in Tampa and Orlando, with 45% and 37%, respectively.