Housing cost pressures extend across all income cohorts

Summary

• Nearly one in four lower-income households spend at least half of their income on rent.
• About one in four higher-income households spend at least half of their income on mortgages.
• Roughly one in four lower-income renters spend more than half their income on rent, a figure that rose from about one in five before the pandemic.
• The share of lower-income renters spending more than half their income on rent edged down in 2026.
• Among lower-income mortgage holders, just over one in five spend more than half their income on housing.
• The share of lower-income mortgage holders spending more than half their income on housing is nearly 5 percentage points higher than before the pandemic.
• Housing costs are taking a significant portion of household budgets across the entire income spectrum.
• Consumers appear able to keep spending on everyday essentials like gas & groceries in check.
• The data is derived from selected Bank of America transaction data including aggregated & anonymized selections from US Retail, Preferred, Small Business & Wealth Management clients.
• Income terciles are defined as lower, middle, & higher, with each tercile representing one-third of households based on quantitative estimates.
• The report was published on 11 November 2026 by the Bank of America Institute.