A Place to Live, at a Cost

The numbers are rising faster than paychecks. More than half of Floridians are spending 40% or more of their income on housing, a new poll finds. 

MediaLab@FAU in conjunction with MainStreet Research, conducted a poll in November 2025, asking 723 registered voters living in Florida for their opinions about housing, economics, and demographic shifts in the state and what they mean for Florida’s future.   

The poll found that 60.4% of Florida residents are spending 40% or more of their income on housing, highlighting the growing financial strain across the state. More than a quarter of Florida residents are spending 60% or more of their income on housing. Others aren’t far behind, with nearly one in five spending 40% and about one in seven spending half.  

The findings point to a growing share of residents that are now classified as housing cost-burdened, with more households spending well beyond the recommended 30% of their income on housing; a threshold commonly used to define affordability. As a result, many are forced to stretch their budgets to cover rent, mortgages, insurance, property taxes and other living expenses, despite relatively low wages. Thus, raising concerns that the state is becoming increasingly out of reach for the workforce that supports it.  

Kimberly Martin, a 35-year-old Behavior Analyst living in Boca Raton, said about 40% of her $90,000 annual income goes towards rent, which is $2,500 a month. On top of that, she is also managing student loan payments, adding to her monthly financial strain. 

Martin explained that while she wishes her rent consumed a smaller portion of her income, the high cost of living makes that difficult.  

“For me, balancing essential expenses like my car payment, groceries, and other bills while trying to prioritize rent is the hardest part,” she said.  

She added that managing rent means constantly weighing it against other necessities. Food, clothing and even the occasional entertainment make it a daily challenge to stretch her paycheck across all her expenses.  

As a therapist, she noted that housing pressures can have a serious impact on mental health, explaining that financial stress from high rent and living expenses often contributes to high anxiety and overall emotional strain.  

“The quality of life gets diminished,” Martin said.  

Experts say Martin’s experience reflects a broader trend across Florida, where housing supplies have struggled to keep up with the demand.  

Ken Johnson, the Christie Kirkland Walker Chair of Real Estate and professor of finance at the University of Mississippi, who lived in Southeast Florida for 25 years, said the region faces both renting and affordability challenges.  

He said development slowed significantly following the 2008 housing crisis, when the collapse of the housing market and tighter lending standards made it difficult for developers to finance new projects.  

Even as demand for housing rebounded in the years following, construction did not keep pace. The gap between supply and demand has continued to widen, contributing to rising rents and home prices today.  

“Housing is referred to as ‘perfectly inelastic’ in the short run, meaning, you just can’t build them fast enough,” Johnson said.  

As costs become a burden, residents start to adjust their living situations to keep up. Popularly, there is a rise in multi-generational living where younger generations are staying at their parents’ homes longer than usual and grandparents are moving in.  

This can also extend to unconventional living arrangements, with people in their 40s signing lease agreements well out of their college years.   

“You end up with these unique roommate situations at perhaps a more advanced age than you’re comfortable with,” said Johnson. “You’ll both be signing your food in the refrigerator so no one eats it.”  

These living arrangements, while necessary for affordability, can create challenges in terms of privacy and daily routines. 

Johnson said that the financial strain tied to housing can have broader consequences. Lower educational outcomes, less access to health care and a slowdown in the average savings rate because the cost of housing is too expensive relative to residents' income.  

“This is not a boom era; this is a bust era,” said Johnson. 

Data reflects the gap between income and housing costs. The average rent in the Miami metropolitan area is $2,652, with an affordability threshold of $106,067 in annual income, according to the Waller, Weeks, and Johnson Rental Index. However, the median household income in Miami was $68,635 in 2023, City-Data reported well below what is needed to comfortably afford rent.  

That disconnect is forcing many residents to make difficult trade-offs.  

“I might have to give up on other necessities like healthcare, food and transportation to take care of this necessity first,” said Rochelle Zaldivar, a 24-year-old Insurance agent for Elevate Health living in Boca Raton.  

Zaldivar said she is spending between 30% and 40% of her income on rent as she goes through the transitional period from living with her parents to living independently; she said managing expenses has become a challenge.  

“It just adds more stress to living and makes things harder for us [Floridians] to do,” Zaldivar said. “At times I wish I wasn’t paying [rent] some months, but we all have to pay for housing.” 

Zaldivar said her income is not sufficient to cover the cost of living. She explained that wages in the area simply haven’t kept pace with the high cost of housing.  

While signs of change are starting to appear, experts warn it will take time before most residents feel relief.  

Johnson says early signs of a shift in the housing market, with some development underway and average apartment rents beginning to decrease. However, while these changes point to a potential turnaround, the progress is still limited and not yet enough to significantly improve affordability for most residents.  

“These numbers look good,” Johnson said. “But, they are still unaffordable, so it's going to take a bit of time and more development of property to get the rent and home ownership in line with the incomes for the area.”