Over the past few years, the average amount that Fresno households spend on housing — whether they are renters or homeowners with a mortgage — has climbed faster than household incomes.
It’s a combination that’s putting greater financial pressure on residents at a time when the city is already confronting a shortage of affordable housing — pressure that is but one factor contributing to Fresno’s growing homelessness issues .
The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development even has a term for it: “ cost-burdened .” A household is considered cost-burdened if more than 30% of its household income is spent on housing costs, including rent or mortgage and utilities. In Fresno, almost two-thirds of renter households and more than one-third of homeowners with a mortgage fall into the cost-burdened category.
In 2023, that was more than 48,500 renter households in Fresno and more than 21,000 homeowners with a mortgage.
Those include more than 34% of renters, and almost 17% of mortgage-paying homeowners, who spend more than 50% of their income for housing costs and are deemed “ severely cost-burdened .”