Making Rent Affordable
Rents across the U.S. have surged in recent years. From 2017-2024, Pew Research Center found that rents in metro areas rose 49%, and a record 27% of renters now spend more than half their income on housing. In Illinois, rental vacancies have fallen steadily since 2004, leaving renters with fewer choices and rising costs.
While higher rents increasingly affect middle- and higher-income households, the greatest burden falls on people with the lowest incomes, who have the fewest options when housing costs rise. A home is considered “affordable” if it costs no more than 30% of household income, yet nearly three quarters of extremely low-income renters in Illinois are severely cost-burdened, spending more than half their income on rent and utilities. For these households, a single setback, such as reduced work hours or a car repair, can lead to eviction.
Housing Action Illinois works to ensure that everyone has access to an affordable home so people can focus on stability and opportunity, not just survival. Housing instability affects health, education, and economic security. For example, young children in families experiencing housing instability are 20% more likely to be hospitalized than those in stable homes. We advocate for stronger public investments and policies that expand affordable rental options, particularly for households with the greatest needs.
Who Can Afford to Rent In Illinois?
- Only 34 of every 100 extremely low-income renters in Illinois can find a home they can afford.
- Illinois is home to 442,902 extremely low-income renter households, but only 149,135 affordable rental homes are available to them, leaving a staggering shortage of 293,767 homes.
- 75% of these households are severely cost-burdened, leaving little income for food, healthcare, transportation, or childcare..
What Does It Cost To Rent In Illinois?
To afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment in Illinois, a renter must earn $29.81 per hour. This is Illinois’ 2025 Housing Wage, as reported in Out of Reach. A minimum-wage worker would need to work nearly 80 hours per week to afford such an apartment without being cost-burdened. For people living on fixed incomes, such as Social Security, rent for even a studio or one-bedroom apartment can consume nearly their entire monthly income.
Addressing Eviction
Eviction is both a cause and consequence of poverty. An eviction can disrupt employment, education, health, and financial stability, and even a filing on the public record can make it harder to secure future housing.
While current state level data is difficult to find, estimates from 2000-2019 from The Eviction Lab and Housing Action’s own past data analysis indicate that each year, more than 50,000 eviction filings are made in Illinois, and nearly half result in eviction. That means more than 60 Illinoisans lose their homes every day. Evictions occur statewide, in large cities, small towns, suburbs, and rural communities. While most renters live in Cook County, about two-thirds of eviction cases occur outside of it.
People are primarily evicted because of poverty. Not paying rent is the result of not having adequate income.
Housing for People with Records
Home is the cornerstone from which people build better lives for themselves and their families. Yet for people with arrest or conviction records, finding a safe and affordable place to live can be nearly impossible–even long after they have completed a sentence.
This is a community-wide problem. 1 in 3 Americans has an arrest record by the age of 23. Thousands of Illinoisans are incarcerated in jails or prisons. When people with records are locked out of housing, the harm extends beyond individuals to families and everyone in their communities.
Expanding access to stable housing for people with records strengthens communities and helps us build stronger, safer communities. Housing stability reduces recidivism and helps people maintain employment, reconnect with family, and contribute to their communities. Housing Action supports policies and practices that remove unnecessary barriers and ensure everyone has a fair chance at a place to call home.
Why Racial Justice Matters
Increasing the amount of affordable rental housing promotes racial equity by offsetting historic policies in housing, education, and other essential areas that promoted systemic racial discrimination and segregation.
Data from NLIHC’s The Gap 2025 report shows that Black, Latino, and American Indian or Alaska Native households are disproportionately impacted by our national housing shortage since they are disproportionately extremely low-income renters. Eighteen percent of Black households, 17% of American Indian or Alaska Native households, and 13% of Latino households are extremely low-income renters, compared to just 6% of white non-Latino households.
Evictions disparately impact Black communities, especially Black women and families.
Housing policies that ban people with arrest or conviction records harm people of color the most.
These disparities reflect both historical and ongoing systematic racial inequalities that continue to limit access to affordable, accessible, safe rental homes.