Getty
Some 3.8 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits in the week ending April 25, bringing the country’s total to more than 30 million in a little over a month. But the money they will receive from the government might not be enough to cover their full rent or mortgage payments.
According to the National Association of Realtors, the countrywide average unemployment benefit – what each state provides plus $600 a week through the CARES Act – amount to $3,910 a month.
If a monthly rent or mortgage payment exceeds 30% of gross income, which is the burden benchmark of what is typically spent on housing, those who have lost their jobs would strain to meet their obligations.
The NAR estimates that 42% of households across the country would struggle to pay for housing solely with unemployment benefits. Parsed further, the organization says that 48% of homeowners and 31% of renters have monthly housing costs that are higher than the amount they can pay with unemployment benefits.
Here are the top 10 states (including D.C.) with the highest share of homeowners whose monthly mortgage payments surpass the cost they can cover with unemployment benefits:
District of Columbia (with average unemployment benefit of $3,840): 77% or 21,000 homeowners
New Jersey (with average unemployment benefit of $4,300): 70.6% or about 370,000 homeowners
California (with average unemployment benefit of $3,760): 68.2% or nearly 1.25 million homeowners
Connecticut (with average unemployment benefit of $4,185): 65.9% or roughly 100,000 homeowners
Maryland (with average unemployment benefit of $3,830): 65.8% or about 150,000 homeowners
New Hampshire (with average unemployment benefit of $3,760): 64.9% or nearly 66,000 homeowners
Rhode Island (with average unemployment benefit of $3, 950): 63.3% or about 52,000 homeowners
Massachusetts (with average unemployment benefit of $4,600): 62.4% or about 250,000
New York (with average unemployment benefit of $3,960): 58.5% or roughly 435,000 homeowners
Virginia (with average unemployment benefit of $3,675): 57.3% or about 190,000 homeowners
Here are the top 10 states (including D.C.) with the highest share of renters who have monthly rent payments higher than the cost they can cover with unemployment benefits:
California: 62.1% or approximately 940,000 renters
District of Columbia: 60.8% or about 22,000 renters
Hawaii (with average unemployment benefit of $4,570): 53.2% or close to 39,000 renters
Maryland: 52.8% or about 60,000 renters
New York: 49.3% or around 320,000 renters
Florida (with average unemployment benefit of $3,420): 45.7% or close to 180,000 renters
Washington (with average unemployment benefit of $4,320): 44% or some 119,000 renters
New Jersey: 43.5% or about 128,000 renters
Colorado (with average unemployment benefit of $4,240): 43.2% or roughly 45,000 renters
Virginia: 41.5% or about 70,000 renters