Nearly Half of Rockford’s Renters are Struggling to Pay

If you rent the place in which you reside, and you're paying 30%-50% of your income in rent, you can consider yourself moderately "burdened." If you're paying more than 50%, you are "severely burdened."

In the state of Illinois, more than 1/4 (27%) of renters say they pay more than half of their income in rent.

Here in Rockford, that number is even higher, at 28.3%. When you look at the number of renters who fall into the moderately burdened category (19.9%) in Rockford, you quickly come to the conclusion that nearly half of Rockford's renters (48.2%) are barely able to make their monthly payment to the landlord.

Some more details from Kevin Hoffman at Reboot Illinois:

In light of the state budget impasse and the freezing of funding for affordable housing, the organization Make Room, an advocacy group that raises awareness for millions of U.S. families struggling to pay rent, analyzed U.S. Census data from 2014 to see where in Illinois renters are most burdened by the cost of rent.

The analysis found 27 percent of renters in Illinois are “severely burdened” by housing expenses, which means more than half of renters’ income goes toward rent and utilities.

In terms of raw numbers, that’s 441,381 households throughout the state that spend at least 50 percent of their income solely on rent. Illinois ranked No. 13 in the nation for percentage of renters severely burdened by housing costs, according to Make Room.

To take a look at Rockford's numbers, along with the percentages in Illinois' other major cities, click here.