MILWAUKEE – A record number of Americans cannot afford their rent. The latest data from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies released in January says a record high 22.4 million renter households – or half of renters nationwide – were spending more than 30% of their income on rent in 2022. The number of affordable units with rents under $600 also dropped to 7.2 million that year – more than two million fewer than a decade earlier.