America's Credit Union Blog

Generation Z Will Pay $226,000 in Rent in their Lifetime

Written by America's Credit Union | Jun 6, 2018 9:19:02 PM

Generation Z can expect to spend $226,000 on inflation-adjusted rent in their lifetime -- about $24,000 more than millennials and $77,000 more than baby boomers, according to a new analysis  from rental search platform HotPads.

HotPads analyzed U.S. government data and HotPads rental data to determine how many years each generation spent or will spend renting in their lifetime, as well as how much total rent each generation paid or can expect to pay.

While Generation Z can expect to pay more in rent than past generations, they may become homeowners slightly sooner than millennials. If historical trends hold, Generation Z is on track to spend less time renting than millennials.

Baby boomers rented for about 10 years before half the generation became homeowners, millennials will rent for 12 years to reach that point, and Generation Z will rent for 11 years.

Nationally, the current median rent was about $1,418 in March 2018, up 1.6 percent over the past year.