Making Rent Is Increasingly Difficult For MA Residents. Here's What They're Doing To Afford It

MASSACHUSETTS — The National Low Income Housing Coalition publishes a report called "Out of Reach" on an annual basis.

Massachusetts finds itself toward the top of that list year after year, meaning that affordable rents for low-income households, according to the report, are quite difficult to come by.

In the current edition of the report, the NLIHC found that a person making minimum wage in Massachusetts would need to work 101 hours a week to afford what it calls a "modest 1 bedroom rental home at fair market rent."

Unaffordable housing is no secret to Massachusetts residents.

Cape Cod has declared a housing crisis, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket are notoriously expensive for the working class and Gov. Maura Healey found the problem so pervasive that she instructed the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities to form and publish a statewide housing plan and signed into law the Affordable Homes Act.

Though government officials have touted progress, studies like "Out of Reach" show that residents are still facing unfavorable conditions at best.

Apparently, though, that isn't just the case in Massachusetts.

Redfin surveyed those who own and rent across generations, finding that renters across the country are having difficulties affording their rent payments.

Roughly 70 percent of Gen Z and millennial renters struggle to afford their payments, while 41 percent of homeowners in that generation report similar struggles, the report found.

Baby Boomers and those in Gen X who own a home struggle less, but over 50 percent of Baby Boomers and over two-thirds of Gen Xers who rent struggle with payments, the report found.

As part of the survey, Redfin asked what is cut out of monthly budgets to afford rent:

"Of the Gen Z and millennial renters who struggle to afford housing, 40 [percent] are eating out at restaurants less often to make their monthly rent payments, making it the most common sacrifice among that group. The next-most common sacrifice is taking no or fewer vacations; nearly one-third of Gen Z and millennial renters selected that option. Next: borrowing money from family or friends (27%) and working extra shifts (25%).

More than one in five (22%) young renters report skipping meals completely to make their monthly payments, 22% have sold their belongings, and 19% have delayed medical treatments."

While Redfin's report ends with a brief summary about affordability improving in some areas of the country, that isn't necessarily true in Massachusetts.

Apartment prices have been increasing by nearly 9 percent since 2023, according to Boston Pads. Even expanding into the Greater Boston region shows that rentals are up in that two-year stretch by nearly 7 percent.

• Read more: MA Renters Are Paying More For An Apartment Than A Year Ago: Report

This comes as a Rent Cafe report found that apartments are actually getting smaller in the city, meaning residents are literally getting less bang for their buck.

• Read more: Are Boston Renters Paying More For Less Space? New Report Answers The Question

So why not buy a house?

While the Warren Group found that, across Massachusetts, homes prices dropped from June to July, that trend is not true to year-over-year totals. As of July 2025, the median sale price of a home in Massachusetts increased 3.4 percent from the first seven months of 2024 to $640,000.

• Read more: MA Home Prices Dropped From June To July, Study Finds