Rental Arrears and Perceived Risk of Eviction among U.S. Renter Households by Household Composition,Race,and Ethnicity 2020 to 2024

Abstract

This visualization presents trends in the estimated proportion of U.S. renter households in arrears and their perceived risk of eviction from August 2020 through June 2024 constructed using the Household Pulse Survey, a nationally representative repeated cross-sectional survey fielded by the U.S. Census Bureau. The proportion of renter households in arrears fell following the initial shock of the coronavirus pandemic and an increasing fraction of renters felt that eviction was unlikely. The proportion of renters perceiving some risk and high risk for eviction both generally fell over time. These patterns were evident for all demographic subgroups, but there were clear and persistent disparities. Black and Hispanic households reported higher rates of both rental arrears and perceived risk for eviction throughout the time period compared with White households. Households with children had higher rates of rental arrears and perceived eviction risk compared with households without children within each racial and ethnic demographic subgroup.

The shock of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic combined with preexisting housing stress in renter households led to fears of a tsunami of evictions (Benfer et al. 2020). Eviction has adverse consequences for physical and mental health, economic well-being, family functioning, and child development (Acharya, Bhatta, and Dhakal 2022; Desmond and Kimbro 2015). Historically marginalized populations such as Black and Hispanic Americans are at elevated risk, as are households with children (Graetz et al. 2023). Responding to the economic shock, the federal government invested in supports including economic impact payments, extended unemployment insurance, and an expanded child tax credit (U.S. Department of the Treasury 2024). Specifically targeting housing and eviction risks, the federal (along with state and local) government implemented eviction moratoria (Fusaro, Coley, and Carey 2023; Hepburn et al. 2023) and later authorized more than $46 billion in funding for rental relief to aid renters in arrears and at risk for eviction (U.S. Department of the Treasury 2024).

This data visualization (Figure 1) presents changing rates of rental arrears and perceived risk for housing loss because of eviction among U.S. renter households over four years estimated using the Household Pulse Survey, a repeated cross-sectional, nationally representative survey of U.S. households conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. We pooled data from all available Pulse samples that included questions about rental arrears and eviction risk (August 19, 2020, to June 24, 2024; n = 783,832), then estimated the proportions of renter households reporting being behind on rent and, among this group, perceived risk for housing loss in the next two months because of eviction (no, some, or high perceived risk). We estimated prevalence and trends for all renter households and then for subgroups defined by presence of children and racial and ethnic identity (Black, Hispanic, and White, with others presented in supplementary material).

Figure 1.

Proportion of renter households in the United States in rent arrears and perceived risk of housing loss because of eviction in next two months overall and by racial and ethnic identity and household composition, August 19, 2020, to June 24, 2024 (n = 783,832).

The visualization supports three key findings. First, the proportion of renters behind on rent rose from August 2020 to January 2021, peaking with 19 percent of renters reporting arrears. This rate dropped rapidly through spring 2021, then rose again before showing a gradual decline, reaching a low of 11 percent in March 2024. Over all periods, more than 80 percent of renters were current on rent.

Second, the perceived risk for eviction (reported only by renters in arrears) also showed a brief increase, then declined over time. The smallest proportion of renters reported a high perceived risk for eviction, decreasing from about 3 percent in February 2021 to about 1 percent in June 2023. The proportion perceiving some risk for eviction (the largest group among those in arrears) also declined from 12 percent to 5 percent of all renters, while the proportion reporting no perceived risk for eviction increased from about 3 percent to 5 percent of renters.

Third, there were marked disparities in rental arrears and perceived eviction risk across household subgroups. Black households reported higher rates of rental arrears and perceived risk for eviction than Hispanic households, followed by White households. Households with children were more likely to report rental arrears and higher perceived risk for eviction than those without children within each subgroup.

Supplemental Material

sj-docx-1-srd-10.1177_23780231241309788 – Supplemental material for Rental Arrears and Perceived Risk of Eviction among U.S. Renter Households by Household Composition, Race, and Ethnicity 2020 to 2024

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-srd-10.1177_23780231241309788 for Rental Arrears and Perceived Risk of Eviction among U.S. Renter Households by Household Composition, Race, and Ethnicity 2020 to 2024 by Vincent A. Fusaro, K. Megan Collier, Christopher Baidoo and Rebekah Levine Coley in Socius