A new analysis from a renters’ advocacy group says over the last decade, the number of seniors paying unaffordable rent in the Hartford metro area increased by nearly 10 percentage points, one of the largest upswings of any metro area in the country.
Make Room said 32 percent of senior renters in the area in 2014 were paying more than half their income in rent each month. That’s up from just over 22 percent in 2005. The 9.7 percentage point increase was third highest in the nation over the nine-year period, Make Room said.
Nationally, the analysis found that the number of senior households paying unaffordable rent has outpaced the growth in the senior population overall. From 2005 to 2014, the country’s population of seniors increased by 25 percent, from 22.5 million to 28.1 million, while the number of seniors paying more than half of their household income (before taxes) toward rent and utilities shot up by 34 percent, from 1.4 million to 1.8 million.
