Michigan City Has America’s Most Unaffordable Rent

Everything is more expensive these days, but rent prices are one of the most taxing bills on working-class Americans, and Michiganders feel the sting just as harshly as the rest of the country.

According to Rent Cafe, the average monthly rent in the United States is $1,751 for 902 sq. ft. Based on their data, 11% of rental properties in America charge $1,000 or less per month. Michigan, which does have a lower cost of living than most states, has an average monthly rent of $1,366 for 916 sq. ft.

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I joke with my ex-wife about how we struggled to pay rent in 2013 at $325, and now my rent is $1,000 more expensive. It's bizarre. Still, making average money in Michigan and paying average prices for rent isn't something the entire state gets to enjoy. One city in particular was found to have some of the nation's most unaffordable rent prices in the country.

Why This Michigan City Has America's Least Affordable Rent

Wallet Hub recently published an article ranking the 182 most heavily populated cities nationwide by how affordable rent is. But it doesn't simply come down to which cities have the lowest rent prices, it's about cities that have rent prices that residents don't make enough money to reasonably afford.

Detroit is the city in question, as if there were any surprise. Rent prices in Detroit are notoriously cheap, often allowing Detroit to, ironically, land at the top of the list for cities with affordable rent. Unfortunately, Detroiters are often dedicating a median of 31.35% of their income to rent alone each month. Only three cities had a higher percentage, peaking at 33.48% in Miami. More than half of the cities included in the study have a median of 22% or lower of their residents' income dedicated to rent.

The average rent in Detroit, according to Rent Cafe, is $1,337 for 796 sq. ft. Their data also indicates that 38% of rental properties in the Motor City charge $1,000 or less for monthly rent. Unfortunately, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income in Detroit is just $39,575, leaving 31.5% of the city's population in poverty.

Detroit is trying to make a comeback in a variety of ways. But until folks can get on their feet at a larger scale, it's tough to acknowledge low rent prices as any sort of win for the city.

Wallet Hub's full study can be seen here. There, you can also see how Grand Rapids fared in the rankings.