Our latest Zogby Poll shows an overwhelming majority (81%) of surveyed renters in the U.S. were current with their monthly rent payments. However, nearly one in five (18%) were at least one month behind, while 10% were at least two months behind on their monthly rent payments. On the surface this may not seem like a lot of renters who are behind on their rent, but when you start to do the math, we are potentially talking about 20% (roughly 8.6 million) of the approximately 43 million renters in the U.S., who are at least one month behind on their rent. If the pandemic were to get worse and cities and states are forced to fully close down the economy again, millions more people might not be able to meet their monthly rent obligations. While some states have passed legislation to allow residents to miss monthly rent payments without the fear of eviction, the larger problem is being delayed and "can is being kicked down the road."
The youngest renters aged 18-29 were less likely to be current on their rent (74% current) than older renters aged 65+ (97% current), who were almost always current with their monthly rent.
Also, white renters (86% current) were more likely to be current compared to African American (78% current) and Hispanic renters (75% current).
Where renters resided also seemed to influence how current they were with their monthly rent payments. Renters in small cities (74% current) were less likely to be current compared to renters in large cities (80% current) or the suburbs (86% current).
As expected, there was also a difference in how current and late renters were in the U.S. when we broke the data down by income and education.
Not surprisingly, 98% of renters whose household income was $100K+ were current on their rent compared to 77% of renters whose household income was less than or equal to $25K annually. Also, renters who had college degrees (88% current) were more current with their rent payment than those who did not have college degrees (80% current).
2020 was a difficult year for many due to the pandemic. As a result of the stimulus and the economy re-opening (but shutting back down in other regions ravaged by Covid-19) the U.S. economy has rebounded a little, but the outcome has been a "K shaped" economic recovery that has not benefited the lower and middle wage earners as much as the upper wage earners.
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Zogby Analytics Poll Methodology
US Renters
12/18/20 - 12/19/20
Zogby Analytics conducted an online survey of 2017 renters in the US.
Using internal and trusted interactive partner resources, thousands of adults were randomly invited to participate in this interactive survey. Each invitation is password coded and secure so that one respondent can only access the survey one time.
Using information based on census data, voter registration figures, CIA fact books and exit polls, we use complex weighting techniques to best represent the demographics of the population being surveyed. Weighted variables may include age, race, gender, region, party, education, and religion.
Based on a confidence interval of 95%, the margin of error for 2017 is +/- 2.2 percentage points. This means that all other things being equal, the identical survey repeated will have results within the margin of error 95 times out of 100.
Subsets of the data have a larger margin of error than the whole data set. As a rule we do not rely on the validity of very small subsets of the data especially sets smaller than 50-75 respondents. At that subset we can make estimations based on the data, but in these cases the data is more qualitative than quantitative.
Additional factors can create error, such as question wording and question order.
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About Zogby Analytics:
Zogby Analytics is respected nationally and internationally for its opinion research capabilities. Since 1984, Zogby has empowered clients with powerful information and knowledge critical for making informed strategic decisions.
The firm conducts multi-phased opinion research engagements for banking and financial services institutions, insurance companies, hospitals and medical centers, retailers and developers, religious institutions, cultural organizations, colleges and universities, IT companies and Federal agencies. Zogby's dedication and commitment to excellence and accuracy are reflected in its state-of-the-art opinion research capabilities and objective analysis and consultation.