The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard recently released findings from the State of the Nation’s Housing 2025 report that highlights trends in housing affordability for older households (those led by someone age 65 or over).

According to the report, in 2023, over a third of older households were cost burdened, paying more than 30 percent of their income for housing. This represents a new high of over 12.4 million households and an increase of nearly 2.3 million households just since 2019. More than half of these households, 6.7 million, pay over 50 percent of their income for housing, making them severely cost burdened

Older renters are more likely to live on fixed incomes that may not keep up with rising rents, and those with lower incomes may have little left over in the household budget to pay for out-of-pocket medical costs, food, and other necessities. Cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance in the recent reconciliation bill will mean even less support for the most vulnerable of these households.

The report also notes affordability challenges are more prevalent among households headed by people of color, with cost burdens rates nearing 46 percent for Black older adults and 43 percent for Hispanic older adults. Householders who are Black, Hispanic, Asian, or of other/multiple races are also more likely than white households to have severe cost burdens.

More detail can be found in a recent blog post by JCHS at Harvard on the State of the Nation’s Housing 2025 report here.