Cost-Burdened Households

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines a cost-burdened household as any household where housing costs make up 30% or more of household income. To be cost-burdened (sometimes called rent-burdened) presents a great challenge to a household’s ability to meet other needs, like food security, child care, and education. The data here indicates that household cost-burden is a significant challenge in communities across Louisiana, with a majority of renters in all but one MSA being rent-burdened. To be rent-burdened is a particularly precarious situation for renters as they are not building equity in the same way as homeowners. Rent-burdened households are often unable to accrue savings that could be allocated towards a different housing arrangement in which the renter could build equity.