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More Than 8 Million Americans Are Late on Rent as Prices Increase

  • Census Bureau survey shows 15% of renters aren’t caught up
  • More will feel the squeeze as leases come due in the summer
An apartment building in the Brooklyn borough of New York.

An apartment building in the Brooklyn borough of New York.

Photographer: Gabriela Bhaskar/Bloomberg

About 15% of US renters aren’t caught up with their payments, according to Census Bureau data, and it’s about to get worse this summer as many leases come due and landlords boost prices.

That represents 8.4 million Americans who were struggling to pay their monthly rents during the June 1 to June 13 period of the Census survey. The share was markedly higher for Black Americans -- almost a quarter are behind -- and for people age 40 to 54, an age when many are at their earnings peak.