Income-based housing exists because market rent and local incomes don’t always line up. Across the 5,500-plus cities where Lease Lantern tracks both, the median market rent is $975 a month against a median household income of about $62,500 — roughly 19% of income for a typical household. But that statewide picture varies enormously, and it shows exactly where a rent cap matters most.
The least affordable states
Measured as median market rent against median local income, these states are the most cost-burdened:
- Florida — about $1,465/mo rent vs $65,400 income (26.9%)
- California — about $1,933 vs $94,000 (24.7%)
- Hawaii — about $1,762 vs $88,900 (23.8%)
- Louisiana — about $827 vs $41,900 (23.7%)
- Oregon — about $1,258 vs $68,800 (22.0%)
Florida and Louisiana reach the same squeeze by opposite routes — Florida through high rents, Louisiana through low incomes.
The most affordable states
In the Plains and Mountain West, market rent takes a far smaller bite:
- North Dakota — about 13.6% of income
- South Dakota — 14.9%
- Wyoming — 15.1%
- Nebraska — 15.4%
- Alaska and Kansas — about 16%
Why this matters for income-based housing
These percentages describe the typical household. The renters who qualify for income-based housing earn far less — often half the area median — so the same market rent can consume 40 to 60% of their income. That is the gap subsidized housing closes by capping rent near 30% of what a household actually earns. The pressure is greatest in high-rent states like Florida, California, and Hawaii, where waitlists for income-based units run correspondingly long.
See what’s available in the highest-cost markets — Florida, California, Hawaii — or search your state. New to how rent is set? Read what income-based housing is.
How we measured it
These figures come from American Community Survey data on median gross rent and median household income for each city we cover, aggregated to a state median so that small-town survey noise washes out. They describe the cost of the open rental market a household faces locally, not the rent paid inside a subsidized unit. That distinction is the whole point: where the open market is expensive relative to local pay, the value of an income-based apartment — whose rent is tied to what a family earns rather than to the market — is far greater. It also explains why the same federal program produces short waits in one state and multi-year waits in another. If you are weighing a move, comparing a destination state’s market burden against its subsidized-housing supply is a smart first step.