An eviction notice is posted and the lock is changed on a residence in the unincorporated community of Galloway, west of Columbus, Ohio, in 2021. While eviction filings offer a glimpse into the current housing crisis, they often fail to include the outcomes of these cases, complicating data gathering on evictions and displacement in rental housing. (Stephen Zenner/Getty Images)
Evictions are a window into America’s rental housing crisis: In 2022, more than half of all renters spent over a third of their income on housing, and millions of tenants who miss rent payments are evicted each year.
When renters are kicked out of their homes, the consequences can be disastrous . Families might lose their possessions when they are piled on the sidewalk, or can’t afford the fee to get them out of storage. Children might have to switch schools, and studies show that evictions often lead to job loss and depression.
The most recent eviction data, based on court records, suggests that 3.6 million evictions were filed in 2018, or 7.8 for every 100 renter households. Those numbers, from the Eviction Lab at Princeton University , are considered to be the best available. But they don’t come close to painting a full picture.