PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — In the past several years, many affluent Americans have chosen to rent homes rather than buying their own property. And according to RentCafe, this movement has become even more common amongst high-earners in Portland.
Apartment listing service RentCafe used data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series to determine how the rich-renter trend has affected the market. The website reported that between 2015 and 2020, the number of renters who earned more than $150,000 per year grew by 82%.
The number of middle-income renters also grew within that time span, but not as exponentially as those with high incomes. People who earn less than $50,000 each year were the only renter group that declined, with an 11.2% decrease.
“With 43 million families living in apartments, the highest level in half a century, renting is popular even among high-earners who are able to buy but prefer to rent their home instead,” RentCafe said. “There are now 2.6 million high-earners living in rentals in the U.S. and among them is a new ritzy kind of tenant: the millionaire renter.”
According to RentCafe, the average “millionaire renter” is a millennial who holds a management position. The platform asserted that this demographic could be opting to rent instead of own because of the recent surge in home prices.
In late 2022, KOIN 6 reported year-over-year data that showed a finally-slowing housing market after a few years of steep competition. But even with this decline, the cost of home ownership in Portland had already become unaffordable for many residents.
In fact, RentCafe said that Portland was the third U.S. city with the highest growth in rich renters. Seattle and Miami took the top two spots, respectively.
The data reveals that high-income renter households in the Rose City increased by 148% from 2015 to 2020, while home prices increased by 49%.