Home Ownership vs Renting in Tampa Bay

Home ownership in Tampa Bay continues to offer a clear household budget benefit when compared to renting.

A new Census Bureau report revealed that nearly half of Tampa Bay residents are spending more than 50 percent of their income on renting. Experts say anyone spending more than 30 percent of their monthly income on rent is rent burdened.

The Census Bureau study broke down the data by Congressional District. Florida has nine of the 11 worst districts – primarily in South Florida – with close to two-thirds of the renters considered burdened. In five other districts, including the 13th Congressional District in Pinellas County, the numbers are similar with 63 to 64 percent of renters classified as cost burdened.

Nearly every Congressional district in Florida is above 50 percent.

Conversely, according to the National Association of Home Builders, current homeowners possess a more advantageous financial position because of significant home equity games and below-market mortgage rates that were locked in during the pandemic.

Across Tampa Bay, the percentage of homeowners who are burdened sits between 24 and 29 percent. The percentage might be lower, according to the NAHB, but Tampa Bay residents and Floridians across the state are having to manage higher property insurance premiums.

All the numbers point to Tampa Bay’s ongoing housing crisis, and the issue is being driven by wages failing to keep pace with the cost of living. Rents in the Tampa Metro area climbed by 50 percent between 2019 and 2023 — while wages rose only about 15 percent.

Over the last year, the rate of inflation has dropped considerably to 1.8 percent, while continued economic growth and residential building have dented housing costs.

Still, challenges remain, particularly for the Gen Z generation. A recent Zillow study revealed that nationally, 60 percent of that generation is considered rent burdened. Orlando, Miami, and Tampa sit near the top of the list. In all three cities, nearly 70 percent of Gen Z renters were rent-burdened.

The positive aspect is that the percentage of Gen Z who are rent burdened is lower than the percentage of Millennials who were rent burdened a decade ago.

“The experience of struggling to pay rent on an entry-level salary is familiar to so many of us that it’s almost become normalized in our society,” StreetEasy Senior Economist Kenny Lee said in a NewsNation report. “But this is something that should not be normal.”