The rental market has shifted over the last year with both construction and rental prices slowing down, but even with these changes, the cost of housing remains high for many renters. The U.S. Census Bureau has released the 2024 American Community Survey highlighting the changes that renters have experienced geographically and financially. Let’s look at renters in Virginia and how they are faring in the market.

Income

The median household income for renters in Virginia came to $61,242 in 2024 per the Census Bureau, up 1.4% from a year ago, and well above the U.S. median income for renters of $54,446.  At the metro level, Northern Virginia had the highest median income in the state at $81,094, up 2.5% or $1,943 more than 2023. Other markets such as Charlottesville and Winchester saw renters with incomes above the national average but below Virginia’s median income level. Blacksburg had the lowest renter median income compared to all other areas at $37,297 but saw the biggest year-over-year increase at 8.3%. Hampton Roads also saw significant growth in renter incomes going from $51,149 to $54,460 in 2024, growing 6.5%. Lynchburg and Harrisonburg saw the sharpest declines in income levels from 2023 to 2024.

Housing Costs

Housing prices have risen 56% since early 2020, causing many individuals to turn to renting, but the rental sector has had its own affordability challenges. Over the past four years, statewide median rent has gone up 26% leaving nearly half of all renters’ cost burdened. Renters in Virginia have also grappled with elevated prices, with monthly median housing costs at $1,646 in 2024, 5.0% higher than the year before. This has contributed to an increase in cost-burdened renters, those spending more than 30% of their gross income on housing, which rose to 46.1% last year. Areas like Hampton Roads had the highest share of cost-burdened renters at 53.3%, up 0.7 percentage points from the year prior. Although the share of cost-burdened renters was lower in smaller areas such as Blacksburg and Lynchburg, they also experienced the largest year-over-year increases.

Geographic Mobility

In Virginia, there were 2.5 million householders living in renter units in 2024, with 1.9 million remaining in the same home they did a year ago. Higher housing costs contributed to many renters staying where they are, but that does not mean there wasn’t any movement in the market. The number of renter households that moved within the same county rose to 234,292 in 2024 and renters who moved from abroad went from 33,976 in 2023 to 45,916 last year. Renter mobility also varied across different markets, with some of the state’s biggest metro areas: Northern Virginia, Richmond, and Hampton Roads seeing a decline in the number of renter households that moved from a different county within the state. Smaller markets like Harrisonburg saw the number of renters households who moved from a different county go up from 3,782 to 7,003 last year, which is 3,221 more renter households than 2023. Richmond and Hampton Roads experienced an increase in the number of households that moved from a different state. Northern Virginia saw the biggest influx of renters who moved from abroad with 11,754 more in 2024 compared to 2023.

For more information on housing, demographic and economic trends in Virginia, be sure to check out Virginia REALTORS® other Economic Insights blogs and our Data page.