About 72 percent of renters value the importance of connections to their neighbors, while more than half (56 percent) said their current rental situation has a positive impact on their personal well-being, according to Grubb Properties and Wakefield Research in their 2023 State of the Young American Renter Survey, which polled 1,000 American renters ages 22-35 in apartment communities. This year, the survey group was refined to those living in apartment communities of 10 units or more in the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas.
More than three-quarters (78 percent) of young renters reported a rent hike in the past year, while 22 percent said their rent stayed the same or declined. And nine of 10 (90 percent) either plan to or already have taken action to address the higher rents. Almost half (44 percent) said they would be cutting back on extra purchases, while more than a third (37 percent) said they would look for a new job or take on a second job. One in ten (10 percent)