Eviction Rates Plunged During the Early Part of the Pandemic (2024)

During the first couple of years of the COVID-19 pandemic, various state and local laws were implemented to protect tenants across California. Now that most federal, state, and local evictions moratoriums have come to an end, what can we learn about their impact?

Provisions in the governor’s March 2020 executive order and an emergency rule issued by the Judicial Council in early April 2020 protected tenants unable to pay rent because of COVID-related hardship until state legislation such as the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act (CTRA) were passed. (On the federal level, the CARES Act and a CDC eviction moratorium also provided tenant protections and assistance.) After CTRA ended in summer 2021, many cities enacted local laws that continued tenant protections; most of these local laws expired as of February 2023.

State and local tenant protections were almost certainly responsible for the sharp decline in evictions at the beginning of the pandemic. After declining steadily over the past decade, the number of eviction filings plunged at the beginning of the pandemic to approximately 30% of filings in fiscal year 2018.

The impact of evictions varies across the state. Looking at data from 2019, we see the highest rates of eviction across the Inland Empire (37 per 1,000 renters in Riverside County, 42 in San Bernardino County) and the Central Valley (36 per 1,000 in Calaveras County, 30 in San Joaquin County). Lake County, in Northern California, had the highest rate of eviction filings (46), while the lowest rate was in San Francisco County (12). Rates of eviction were also low across other coastal counties—even though rents tend to be higher in these areas, evictions are less prevalent because many coastal counties have renters with higher incomes as well as tenant protections that predate the pandemic.

Looking at the most recent eviction data available (from 2021), we see far lower rates of eviction all across the state. This indicates that moratoriums and rent relief programs shielded Californians who were experiencing economic difficulty from court eviction processes during a global health crisis.

Given the expiration of most tenant protections, the courts are likely to see a significant uptick in eviction filings. According to a February 2023 Census Household Pulse Survey, more than one in three California renters who are behind on rent (36%) think it’s at least somewhat likely that they will have to leave their home in the next two months due to an eviction. An increase in evictions could increase California’s homeless population and catalyze emigration away from the state.

PPIC will continue to monitor eviction trends and their impact on other social issues throughout the state as new court data becomes available and remaining local eviction moratoriums end.

Eviction Rates Plunged During the Early Part of the Pandemic (2024)

FAQs

Where are eviction rates the highest? ›

Looking at data from 2019, we see the highest rates of eviction across the Inland Empire (37 per 1,000 renters in Riverside County, 42 in San Bernardino County) and the Central Valley (36 per 1,000 in Calaveras County, 30 in San Joaquin County).

How many people face eviction in the US? ›

An eviction is when a landlord, sometimes alongside law enforcement, makes a tenant leave a property owned by the landlord. In a typical year, landlords file over 3.5 million eviction cases, according to Princeton's Eviction Lab.

What percentage of Americans have been evicted? ›

The percent of renter households threatened with eviction peaked between 2005 and 2008 at approximately 7.5% and has decreased in recent years to approximately 6%. The study finds that evictions are most common in southeastern states.

What state has the most evictions? ›

More than 900,000 renter households were evicted from their homes each year. South Carolina experienced the highest eviction rate of any state (6.2 percent) with an average of 26,430 evictions per year. Other states with high eviction rates include Arizona, Virginia, and Delaware.

What state has the lowest eviction rate? ›

While last month's Household Census survey shows renters concerned about evictions, California consistently has the LOWEST eviction rates of the 10 most populous states, with 2.2 pre-COVID eviction filings per 100 rental households as compared to 9 per 100 in New York and 16 per 100 in Michigan.

What is the highest rent city in the USA? ›

The most expensive rental market in the US remains to be New York. The average monthly rent for a one-bedroom is roughly $3,260. This is about a $500 decrease from 2021, however as demand continues to increase prices are likely to follow.

What is the rental crisis in the US? ›

There is a shortage of 7.3 million affordable and available rental homes for renters with extremely low incomes in the US, up 8 percent from 6.8 million in 2019. The lack of housing options for renters with extremely low incomes are driving the overall affordable housing shortage across the country.

What gender has the highest eviction rates in the US? ›

Second, among renters, women—especially Black and Latinx women—faced higher eviction rates than men. Across all renters, the risk of eviction was approximately 2% higher for women than for men. Among Black renters this increases to 4%, and for Latinx renters it jumps to 9%.

How many renters in US are behind on rent? ›

13, LendingTree found that more than 8.07 million people 18 or older in the United States aren't caught up on their monthly rent payments. This means that 13.7% of the country's adult renters living in a household that charges them rent are behind on their monthly payments.

How many Americans are not paying rent? ›

Renters across the U.S. are feeling the sting of soaring inflation, rising housing costs and the end of the national eviction ban. Some 15% of American households, around 6 million, are behind on rent this fall, according to a recent report.

What percentage of Americans rent housing? ›

(According to the Pew Research Center, about 36 percent of American households rented, rather than owned, their homes in 2019, the last year that reliable data was available from the Census Bureau.) Moody's first started tracking the metric in 1999, when the typical rent-to-income ratio was 22.5 percent.

What percentage of Americans are landlords? ›

1. 10.6 Million Americans Earn Income from Rental Properties. Approximately 10.6 million American tax filers declared rental income when they filed their taxes. That means about 7.1% of 1040 filers could potentially be landlords.

What is the best state to be a tenant? ›

Full rankings
Median monthly rentMedian annual income
1. North Dakota$853$66,519
2. South Dakota$809$66,143
3. Iowa$845$65,600
4. Kansas$912$64,124
5 more rows

Where are the most renters in the US? ›

The study analyzed the U.S. Census Bureau housing data of more than 300 cities with a population of 100,000 or more and conducted a survey of over 1,000 people from around the country in November. Newark, New Jersey, has the most, with more than 79% of residents renting.

Which state has more renters? ›

California has more renters than any state, more tenants per unit and some of the nation's highest rents.

What is the fastest you can be evicted? ›

The appropriate Eviction Notice to serve for non-payment of rent would be a 3 Day Notice to Pay or Quit, or a 30 or 60 Day Notice to Vacate. If the tenant has been there for less than a year paying on a month to month basis and you want to terminate their tenancy, a 30 Day Notice to Vacate is the correct form to serve.

What is the longest an eviction can take? ›

Constable returns possession of property to landlord.

Evicting a tenant in California can take around five to eight weeks, depending on the type of eviction. If tenants request a continuance or jury trial, the process can take longer.

How many evictions occur in the US annually? ›

Matthew Desmond, professor in the Department of Sociology at Princeton University and author of the book 'Evicted', estimates that there are roughly one million evictions in a typical year in America.

Which USA city has the cheapest rent? ›

The best cities for affordable rent, summed up
RankCityCost of living (U.S. average=100)
1Little Rock, AR87.70
2Tulsa, OK88.60
3Omaha, NE91.70
4Des Moines, IA92.30
21 more rows
Dec 30, 2022

What is average rent in USA? ›

The average rent for an apartment in the U.S. is $1,702. The cost of rent varies depending on several factors, including location, size, and quality.

Which major US city has the cheapest rent? ›

1. Tulsa, Oklahoma. Of all U.S. metro areas with populations of more than 1 million, none has cheaper apartment rents than Tulsa.

Do rents decline in a recession? ›

What Happens to Rents in a Recession? Rents can go both up and down in a recession. The location of a rental property and how hard the local economy is hit by a recession will dictate whether rents go up, down or stay the same.

Will a recession make rent go down? ›

Just because there's a recession doesn't necessarily mean rent prices go down. In fact, during the 2008 recession, it was the exact opposite. In the current rental market, we have seen the rate of increase in rental prices come down, but this only translates to lower rent prices if you're in select markets.

Is the US still in a housing crisis? ›

There are between 1.5 million and 6 million fewer homes in the U.S. than there are households ready to occupy them. The proximate cause of this mismatch isn't hard to discern: Over the past ten years, the number of housing units per 1,000 people in the U.S. has actually fallen.

Which states have more boys than girls? ›

Population Statistics by State
#StateMale to Female Ratio
1Alaska110.34
2North Dakota103.37
3Utah101.74
4Colorado101.71
47 more rows

Which gender drives more in the US? ›

Number of licensed drivers in the United States by gender 2020-2021. In 2021, female motorists accounted for just over half of all licensed drivers in the United States, with around 117.6 million female licensees compared to 115.2 million male licensees.

What are forced evictions in the United States? ›

Definition. Forced evictions can be broadly defined as the permanent or temporary removal against their will of individuals, families and/or communities from the homes and/or land which they occupy, without the provision of, and access to, appropriate forms of legal or other protection.

What is the average rent in the US 2023? ›

The average monthly rent for all apartment types in the United States rose substantially in 2021. As of February 2023, the average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the United States reached 1,320 U.S. dollars, up from 1,282 U.S. dollars a year before.

What percent of Americans are late on rent? ›

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.

What percentage of Americans pay rent late? ›

15% of Americans behind on rent payments.

Are Americans struggling to pay rent? ›

Americans across the country are spending more than they can afford on rent, according to a report from Realtor.com. The February Rental Report found that despite a slight decrease in rent prices, affordability continued to get worse in 26 major metros.

Do most Americans own or rent? ›

Homeowner vs.

In the under-35 age group, 65% of American households are rented. Meanwhile, in the 65+ age group (senior citizens), 79.3% own a home. The median age of homebuyers is 47 years old, while the median age of renters is 38 years old. A whopping 64% of millennials who own homes regret their purchase of a home.

Are 3 million US households making over $150000 are still renting? ›

More high-earning Americans are opting to rent than in the past, with the number of renter households earning $150,000 or more a year rising 87% between 2016 and 2021. This amounts to more than 3 million households, according to five-year estimates from the Census Bureau.

Who owns the most houses in the US? ›

John Malone is the largest private landowner in the United States. Malone made his fortune as a media tycoon, building the company Tele-Communications, Inc, or TCI, and acting as its CEO before selling it to AT&T for $50 billion in 1999.

How many Americans own a second home? ›

How Many Homes in the U.S. are Second Homes? Through our analysis we found that there are at least 2.64 million second homes in the U.S. that are for seasonal, recreational, or occasional use. How many homes are there in the United States?

Is there enough housing in the US for everyone? ›

The United States is not building enough homes to account for the number of people setting up their own households. As a result, there is a sizable shortage of new homes after more than a decade of under-building relative to population growth, according to a new analysis from Realtor.com released Wednesday.

How old are most landlords? ›

While most rental property owners were senior citizens, today's landlords are as young as 40 years with 27% between 30 and 40 and 8% 20 to 30 years old. However, factors such as race and gender affect the average age of landlords.

Who is the largest landlord in US? ›

1. EMMERSON FAMILY. The nation's largest private landowners, California's Emmerson family, are a prime example of this trend. Through their Sierra Pacific Industries, the Emmersons increased their landholdings by more than 100 square miles to over 2.4 million acres.

Who owns the most single-family homes? ›

Invitation Homes is the largest single owner of single-family rental homes in the United States, managing more than 80,000 homes as of 2021.

How long do most renters stay? ›

So, how long does a Tenant stay? A quick google search will tell you that for a single-family rental in the United States, you should expect an average tenancy to last about 3 years. And a multi-family/apartment should stay occupied for roughly 2.5 years. So now you have a benchmark by which to judge your performance.

Are renters happier? ›

Research suggests that, as far as happiness is concerned, owning a home is no better than renting. A 2011 study on about 600 women in Ohio found that homeowners weren't any happier than renters. In fact, the home owners “derive significantly more pain from their house and home,” the study authors wrote. The reason?

What state has the fastest eviction process? ›

Louisiana. Louisiana's effective property tax rate is just 0.54%, the third lowest in the US. It is also one of the states that have laws that preempt rent control. Louisiana has one of the fastest eviction processes in the country.

Where are the most evictions? ›

Looking at data from 2019, we see the highest rates of eviction across the Inland Empire (37 per 1,000 renters in Riverside County, 42 in San Bernardino County) and the Central Valley (36 per 1,000 in Calaveras County, 30 in San Joaquin County).

Are rents falling in the US? ›

Why rent prices are falling. The biggest factor in recent rent price declines is a glut of new rental units in 2023, "the largest in 50 years," says Thomas LaSalvia, director of economic research at Moody's Analytics. Rental unit vacancies have increased slightly as well, he says.

Which US city has the most apartments? ›

1. New York, NY
  • Share of housing that is high-density: 62.0%
  • Share of owner housing that is high-density: 33.4%
  • Share of renter housing that is high-density: 75.4%
  • Total high-density housing units: 1,992,401.
  • Total housing units: 3,211,033.
Feb 1, 2022

What state has the most expensive rent right now? ›

California is the most expensive state to rent, with an average rent of $1,901, outpacing the runner-up, Hawaii, by nearly $200.

What US state has the most expensive rent? ›

Analysis by Redfin showed prices increased by 14.1% over the year in 2021 and 7.45% in 2022. With real wages falling by 1.3% in the last year there is an intense squeeze on purse-strings. California is no exception and has the highest average rent prices in the country.

Where are rents rising the most? ›

Key findings on rent increase
RankState2021–2022 Rent change
1Florida22.59%
2Tennessee18.61%
3South Dakota18.41%
4New York18.23%
44 more rows
Oct 20, 2022

Where are rents the highest? ›

Half of America's most expensive cities for apartments are in California: study
RankMetropolitan Statistical AreaChange Since February 2022
1Santa Barbara-Santa Maria- Goleta, CA+ 1.7%
2Ithaca, NY+ 52.6%
3Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT+ 11.1%
4Salinas, CA+ 8.6%
6 more rows
Mar 14, 2023

Which state has the most renters? ›

California had the most renting households with 5.73 million, or 13.6 percent of the nation's 42 million rental homes. Tenants in California make up 44 percent of households in the state, the third-largest share of renters behind. D.C., at 58 percent, and New York at 45 percent.

Where is the most expensive place to rent in the US? ›

Most Expensive US Cities For Renters
  • Fort Lauderdale, Florida. ...
  • Santa Ana, California. ...
  • Oakland, California. ...
  • Arlington County, Virginia. ...
  • Washington, D.C. ...
  • Los Angeles, California. ...
  • San Diego, California. Average Rent for a 1 Bedroom Apartment: $2,400. ...
  • San Jose, California. Average Rent for a 1 Bedroom Apartment: $2,600.
Apr 30, 2023

Which is the single greatest predictor of eviction? ›

Having children is the single greatest predictor of whether someone will face eviction.

How many Americans are delinquent on rent? ›

Some 15% of American households, around 6 million, are behind on rent this fall, according to a recent report.

What state is the best to rent? ›

North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa are the best states for renters. California, Massachusetts and Nevada are the worst states for renters. Overall median rent ranges from $1,774 to $770 per month in Hawaii and West Virginia, respectively.

Where is the cheapest rent in the United States? ›

The best cities for affordable rent, summed up
RankCityCost of living (U.S. average=100)
1Little Rock, AR87.70
2Tulsa, OK88.60
3Omaha, NE91.70
4Des Moines, IA92.30
21 more rows
Dec 30, 2022

Why do rich people rent where they live? ›

So they may rent a place in New York City, London, and San Francisco to live in because it's much cheaper than buying. Since they have cash-flowing real estate and other investments to live off of, they know the difference between a property that is an expense and an income property.

What state in the US has the cheapest rent? ›

1. Mississippi. Coming in as the cheapest state to live in in the United States is Mississippi with a cost of living index score of 83.3. It also has the lowest average housing costs in the nation at 33.7% below the national average.

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