Surging home prices and a taste for flexibility have led to a flood of high incomers on the rental market in recent years. So much so that, according to our most recent analysis, there are now 2.6 million Americans making more than $150,000 who choose to live in rentals.
This affluent segment grew like no other between 2015 and 2020 – by a whopping 82% – and renters overall inched up by 3.2% during the same timeframe.
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The Millionaire Renters
Among them, a ritzy kind of tenant is gaining ground: the millionaire renter. Households with incomes of more than $1M tripled in five years, reaching more than 3,000.
Here are more surprising facts:
- Who is the millionaire renter? The good majority (28%) of millionaire renters are Millennials, with an average age of 41. Gen X follows close behind, making up 23% of millionaire renter homes. Most of them are in management positions but financial services, legislation, software development and sales are popular domains as well. The average home size of a millionaire renter has three bedrooms.
- Where does the millionaire renter live? About three quarters of them (or 2,457, to be more exact) rent in New York City, followed by San Francisco and Los Angeles. In San Francisco, the number of millionaire renters grew from a mere 17 to 294 in the past five years. Even though it ranks 5th among U.S. that are home to millionaire renters, Jersey City, NJ, is coming fast behind from 0 wealthy renters in 2015 to more than 100 in 2020.
- Looking at the broader bracket earning more than $150K, we identified some new hotspots that are gaining ground as well, including Seattle, WA; Miami, FL; Portland, OR; Nashville, TN; and Austin, TX. What’s more, 15 out of 20 trending cities in our ranking have seen the number of well-off renters doubling over the span of only five years. At the same time, home prices in these cities increased by more than 50%.
- New York is by far the” richest city when it comes to renters making more than $150,000 per year, boasting nearly 300,000 high-income households in 2020, which is 11% of the national total. Still, California dominates the top 5, with three cities: Los Angeles, taking second place, has 82,655 high-income renter households, followed by San Francisco with 80,200 households, and San Jose on fifth place with 34,585 households. Meanwhile, Chicago claims fourth place with 50,999 high-income households.
About RentCafe
RentCafe.com is a nationwide apartment search website and a part of Yardi.
