According to recent data from NYC (pretty expensive example but still) the rent-to-income ratio (median yearly rent / median yearly income) is ~55% citywide but up to 80% in the Bronx (which has the lowest income of the 5 boroughs)
Edit for clarity: the median income number is also per “household” (I’m assuming per apartment in this case), so it accounts for multiple working people living together
That 55% figure has been true of New York for decades. The ubiquity of public transit has historically offset the costs: since people aren’t making car payments, the portion of their income that would go to that gets spread across other spending.
I would be more interested to see figures in more car-oriented areas for a better apples-to-apples.
According to recent data from NYC (pretty expensive example but still) the rent-to-income ratio (median yearly rent / median yearly income) is ~55% citywide but up to 80% in the Bronx (which has the lowest income of the 5 boroughs)
https://www.realtor.com/research/nyc-q2-2025-rent/
Edit for clarity: the median income number is also per “household” (I’m assuming per apartment in this case), so it accounts for multiple working people living together
That 55% figure has been true of New York for decades. The ubiquity of public transit has historically offset the costs: since people aren’t making car payments, the portion of their income that would go to that gets spread across other spending.
I would be more interested to see figures in more car-oriented areas for a better apples-to-apples.