1 in 5 Seattle-area renters doubt they can make July’s rent

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1 in 5 Seattle-area renters doubt they can make July’s rent

here are about 1.1 million adults in rented households in our metro area, which includes King, Pierce and Snohomish counties. About 102,000 say they have no confidence in their ability to make next month’s rent, and 78,000 have only slight confidence. An additional 28,000 have arranged to defer July’s payment.

That adds up to about 208,000 renters, or 18%, who probably can’t make rent.

As terrible as that is, the data shows that Seattle renters are, at the moment, in better shape than renters in any other of the 15 largest metro areas in the U.S. It’s surely a sign of the strength of the economy here before the COVID-19 pandemic caused an economic meltdown.

The worst numbers are in the Miami area, where, incredibly, almost half (49%) of renters feel that they can’t make July’s payment. In New York, Atlanta, Houston and Detroit, it’s more than a third.