Sh*t Costs Too Much: Housing
Home prices are at an all-time high and roughly half of renters are cost-burdened, while White House inaction, tariffs, and construction labor shortages drive costs up.
Sh*t Costs Too Much.
Fact sheet · July 2026
45%
Of Americans say they’re having trouble affording housing
~50%
Of renter households are cost-burdened by housing costs
+50%
Rise in homeowners insurance since 2020 — double the rate of inflation
Americans are paying more for everything these days — especially in housing costs. Home prices are at an all-time high, outpacing paychecks and leaving millions of homeowners cost-burdened as insurance costs skyrocket. 45% of Americans now say they are having trouble affording housing. Around half of all renters are cost-burdened and unable to afford even cheaper homes on the market. Making ends meet has gone from hard to impossible, forcing millions of households to make difficult decisions between paying rent and putting food on the table.
Key points
- U.S. home prices are at an all-time high after rising for 36 straight months, outpacing wage growth.
- Fewer than 4 in 10 non-homeowner households can afford a typical starter home priced around $200,000.
- Around 50% of all renter households and nearly a quarter of homeowners are cost-burdened by housing costs.
- The number of cost-burdened renters is at an all-time high, with 22.7 million households moderately rent-burdened and 12.1 million severely rent-burdened, burning more than 50% of their income on rent.
- Homeowners insurance has risen nearly 50% since 2020, doubling the rate of inflation overall.
- 71% of homeowners say their home insurance costs have gone up.
- 45% of Americans say they are having trouble affording housing.
Core drivers
White House inaction on housing affordability
As housing costs have continued to rise, the Administration has stood idly by, withholding its signature from bipartisan housing reform legislation and even proposing tens of billions of dollars in cuts to rental assistance, housing vouchers, and housing affordability grant programs run by the Department of Housing & Urban Development.
Tariffs raising construction costs
The federal government’s imposition of tariffs on imported lumber, steel, aluminum, and other critical building materials directly increased the input costs of new home construction, raising housing costs and reducing the number of new homes being built or planned in 2025.
Deportations creating construction labor shortages
Efforts by the federal government to crack down on working immigrants resulted in sluggish growth and labor shortages throughout the construction industry over the past year and a half.
Every figure here is sourced and linked to public reporting, government data, and independent analysis.
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