Share
- Many factors have increased the number of renter households qualified to purchase a home in 2010 versus 2005: 1) incomes have increased, 2) population has grown, 3) prices have fallen, and 4) mortgage rates are lower.
- The graph above shows that incomes have increased. For example, 25 percent of renter households earned more than $50,000 in 2005. In 2009, the share had increased to 28 percent of renter households. In the graph above, the grey and purple lines show the percent of households that earn more than any given income level. They start at 100% at $0 of income, because all households have income greater than $0, and gradually decline. The purple line is shifted above the grey line because for most income amounts, more households earned at least that much in 2009 as in 2005.
- Population has also grown. In 2005 there were approximately 36.8 million renter households compared to 38.8 million renter households in 2009[1].
[1] The number of renter households used here is derived from the American Community Survey which is consistent with the rest of the data used in this study. The ACS is not the official source of US population figures. For more information, see: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/guidance_for_data_users/guidance_main/.
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