Counties in North Carolina by rent-burdened renter households (rent 30 percent or more of income), 2024
Watauga County had the highest rent-burdened renter households (rent 30 percent or more of income) of 100 counties in 2024, at 65.9%. Gates County had the lowest, at 25.7%. The median was 47.8% and the figure for North Carolina was 48.9%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.
Map of counties, 2024
- Under 41
- 41 to 44
- 44 to 48
- 48 to 50
- 50 to 52
- 52 and over
Top 40 counties, 2024
Full ranking
Other periods
About this ranking
Renter households whose gross rent (contract rent plus utilities and fuels the renter pays) was 30 percent or more of household income in the past 12 months, as a percentage of renter households for which that ratio can be computed. United States: American Community Survey five-year estimate, where the period shown is the last year of the five-year span.
Renters who pay no cash rent and households with no or negative income are left out of both the count and the base. 30 percent is the usual US threshold for rent burden. The EU housing cost overburden rate (housing_cost_overburden_rate) uses 40 percent of disposable income, all housing costs and people instead of households, so the two cannot be compared.
Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.
How to cite
U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25070: renter-occupied units with gross rent of 30 percent or more of household income, as a percentage of units where it is computed, calculated with stored inputs. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2024-b25070.dat. Retrieved 2026-10-12.Citation styles
APA 7
U.S. Census Bureau. (2026). American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25070: renter-occupied units with gross rent of 30 percent or more of household income, as a percentage of units where it is computed, calculated with stored inputs (Counties in North Carolina by rent-burdened renter households (rent 30 percent or more of income), 2024) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2024-b25070.dat
MLA 9
American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25070: renter-occupied units with gross rent of 30 percent or more of household income, as a percentage of units where it is computed, calculated with stored inputs, Counties in North Carolina by rent-burdened renter households (rent 30 percent or more of income), 2024. U.S. Census Bureau, 29 Jan. 2026, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2024-b25070.dat. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/rent-burdened-households/north-carolina-counties. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.
Chicago (author-date)
U.S. Census Bureau. 2026. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25070: renter-occupied units with gross rent of 30 percent or more of household income, as a percentage of units where it is computed, calculated with stored inputs. Counties in North Carolina by rent-burdened renter households (rent 30 percent or more of income), 2024. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2024-b25070.dat. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/rent-burdened-households/north-carolina-counties.
Harvard
U.S. Census Bureau (2026) American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25070: renter-occupied units with gross rent of 30 percent or more of household income, as a percentage of units where it is computed, calculated with stored inputs, Counties in North Carolina by rent-burdened renter households (rent 30 percent or more of income), 2024 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2024-b25070.dat, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/rent-burdened-households/north-carolina-counties (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_north_carolina_2024,
author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
title = {{American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25070: renter-occupied units with gross rent of 30 percent or more of household income, as a percentage of units where it is computed, calculated with stored inputs: Counties in North Carolina by rent-burdened renter households (rent 30 percent or more of income), 2024}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Data set},
url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2024-b25070.dat},
urldate = {2026-10-12},
note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/rent-burdened-households/north-carolina-counties. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25070: renter-occupied units with gross rent of 30 percent or more of household income, as a percentage of units where it is computed, calculated with stored inputs. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary\_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2024-b25070.dat. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY - DATA
AU - U.S. Census Bureau
TI - American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25070: renter-occupied units with gross rent of 30 percent or more of household income, as a percentage of units where it is computed, calculated with stored inputs: Counties in North Carolina by rent-burdened renter households (rent 30 percent or more of income), 2024
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/01/29
PB - U.S. Census Bureau
DB - Invokely
UR - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2024-b25070.dat
L2 - https://invokely.ai/rankings/rent-burdened-households/north-carolina-counties
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/rent-burdened-households/north-carolina-counties.
N1 - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25070: renter-occupied units with gross rent of 30 percent or more of household income, as a percentage of units where it is computed, calculated with stored inputs. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2024-b25070.dat. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER -
Use this data in your AI agent
Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:
Rank Counties in North Carolina by rent-burdened renter households (rent 30 percent or more of income) using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"rent_burden_30_plus_share","level":"province","within":"North Carolina","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=rent_burden_30_plus_share&level=province&within=North%20Carolina&limit=10Questions
Which county has the highest rent-burdened renter households (rent 30 percent or more of income)?
Watauga County, with 65.9% in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Which county has the lowest rent-burdened renter households (rent 30 percent or more of income)?
Gates County, with 25.7% in 2024.
Where does this ranking come from?
Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25070: renter-occupied units with gross rent of 30 percent or more of household income, as a percentage of units where it is computed, calculated with stored inputs. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
Rent-burdened renter households (rent 30 percent or more of income): other rankings
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