57% of Bellingham renters struggle to afford their housing costs, new Harvard report says

Over half of Bellingham renters are “burdened” by their housing costs, according to a new report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. The annual “State of the Nation’s Housing” report, which was released in late June, measured hundreds of metropolitan areas across the country by the percentage of their renters that spend over 30% of their income, commonly recommended as the maximum amount people should spend on housing, on rent.

The study found that Bellingham has one of the highest rental rates in Washington state.

Renters spend much of their income on housing

The study found that 57% of Bellingham-area renters in 2022 paid more than 30% of their monthly income on housing, tied with Mount Vernon for the third highest rate among metropolitan areas in Washington, behind just Othello and Pullman which had rates of 57.5%. Also, 32% of Bellingham renters pay more than half their income on housing, the fourth highest rate in the state. Nationally, 49.6% of renters put more than 30% of their income towards housing, while 26.7% spent over half of their income.

The share of cost-burdened renters in Bellingham jumped from 53.7 in last year’s report, and the share of renters who spend over half their incomes on rent jumped from 25.1%

According to the report, the median monthly housing cost for Bellingham renters is $1,440, up from $1,330 in last year’s study, and that the median monthly income is $4,183.

The report, which used data from the U.S. Census Bureau, also found that 29.3% of Bellingham homeowners spend over 30% of their income on housing, the second highest rate in the state. Bellingham’s median house costs 7.4 times the median income, well above the national average of 4.9.

Washington state housing affordability

On the statewide level, 48.8% of Washington renters spent over 30% of their income on housing costs, slightly below than the national average of 49.6%. When you factor in homeowners as well, 33.1% of Washingtonians are burdened by their housing costs, just over the national average of 32.4%

25.6% of the state’s rental units cost more than $2,000 a month, the fourth highest rate of any state.