Enter the monthly rent payment and monthly income into the calculator to determine the rent burden. This calculator can also evaluate any of the variables given the others are known.
Rent Burden Formula
The following formula is used to calculate the rent burden.
RB = (R / I) * 100
Variables:
- RB is the rent burden (%)
- R is the monthly rent payment ($)
- I is the monthly income ($)
To calculate the rent burden, divide the monthly rent payment by the monthly income. Multiply the result by 100 to get the rent burden as a percentage.
What is a Rent Burden?
Rent burden refers to the financial strain a person or household experiences when a large percentage of their income goes towards paying rent. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines rent burden as spending more than 30% of one’s income on rent. Those spending more than 50% are considered severely rent burdened. This can lead to difficulty in affording necessities like food, clothing, transportation and medical care.
How to Calculate Rent Burden?
The following steps outline how to calculate the Rent Burden.
- First, determine the monthly rent payment ($).
- Next, determine the monthly income ($).
- Next, gather the formula from above = RB = (R / I) * 100.
- Finally, calculate the Rent Burden.
- After inserting the variables and calculating the result, check your answer with the calculator above.
Example Problem :
Use the following variables as an example problem to test your knowledge.
monthly rent payment ($) = 800
monthly income ($) = 3000
