Read the Room

The archive

Home

What percentage of American renters have been behind on their rent at some point in the past year?

22.9% of American renters have been behind on their rent at some point in the past year - about 23 in every 100, or 2 in 10. That is the figure published by the Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking for 2025.

0 in 100100 in 100
22.9

Where this number comes from

Survey
Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking
What it measured
SHED 2025 item R11 (“Have you been behind on your rent at any time in the past year?”), counting responses 1=Yes, among adults who pay rent (GH1 = Pay rent). Computed from the Federal Reserve's public-use microdata with its post-stratification weight WEIGHT. The public file has no design variables or replicate weights, so the standard error follows the Fed's documented design effect: SE = √(deff · p(1−p)/n), deff = 1.149 (the Fed's 1.14, or the Kish design effect of these weights if larger); unweighted n = 3,426.
Population
U.S. adults who pay rent
Year
2025
95% confidence interval
21.39% to 24.41% (derived from the published standard error)

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, public-use data (doi:10.17016/datasets.002). Percentages computed here, with attribution.. See the source data

Related questions

Now guess five of these cold.

No account, nothing to install, and you can play right now.

Play five on homeTake the test