The U.S. Department of Commerce, in collaboration with the Census Bureau, conducted in 2012 an American Community Survey that reflected how American citizens reside. The highest percentage of owner-occupied housing units were in West Virginia, with 72 percent, followed closely by Iowa, Minnesota, Maine, and Michigan. Meanwhile, the highest number of renters were in Hawaii, with 56.9 percent. New York, California and Nevada also had more than 50 percent of households comprised of renters.
A recent poll conducted by ORC International discovered that 95 percent of homeowners had homeowners insurance. But among renters, only 37 percent had renters insurance. However, that percentage is growing. The first time the question was asked in 2009, just 29 percent answered positively.
Nationwide, in 2012, 48.1 percent of the renters spent almost one third of their household income on rent and utilities, according to US Census; in California the percentage was the highest among all states, 54.6 percent. Renters outnumber the homeowners in the largest cities: in 2010, 69 percent of the households in New York City were rented, 61.8 percent in Los Angeles, 55.1 percent in Chicago, and 54.6 percent in Houston, according to US Census. The 2012 report issued by the U.S. Census shows that the number of people moving to the cities is growing, Chicago holding the first position in the numeric gain in its downtown area.
The national renter share showed a steady increase from 34.1 percent in 2009 to 34.6 percent in 2010 to 35.6 percent in 2011, according to the report released by the Census in April 2013. The analysis conducted by the National Multi Housing Council reflects that young adults are the major age group to live in rental housing, with 72 percent of householders under age 30 or younger living in rental housing. Harvard deepens the research and shows on its 2013 State of the Nation’s Housing Report that relative to other households, renters are more likely to be single-person households.
The number of renter policies is increasing – there were 7 million in 2006, 9.7 million in 2010 and 10.7 million in 2011. The good news is that renters insurance does not burn holes into ones pockets, as it can be as little as 43 cents/day, with a monthly or annually charge, depending on the policy and the insurer. Furthermore, when an incident happens and a claim needs to be filled, the technological evolution made most companies allow starting the filling process online.
