>“This isn’t just a New York or San Francisco story,” said Airgood-Obrycki regarding the dwindling options for middle-income renters. “This is everywhere.”

Housing costs are slipping out of reach for the middle class in smaller and medium-size cities across the U.S., the latest sign that the affordability crisis that started on the coasts is moving inland, according to research released on Friday by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.

From 2011 to 2018, the proportion of households making $30,000 to $45,000 a year that were “cost-burdened” -- paying more than 30% of their income on rent -- soared the most in metros including Nashville, Tennessee; Greenville, South Carolina; and McAllen, Texas.

Omaha came in ninth on the list, a worse showing than San Francisco or New York, which showed relatively little change over the period despite having notoriously pricey housing markets.

The data highlight a harsh reality of the U.S. economy a decade into the longest expansion on record: For people who don’t make big salaries, there are fewer and fewer affordable places to go.

>More high-earners rent, spurring construction of pricier units

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-31/the-u-s-housing-crisis-is-making-its-way-to-the-heartland?srnd=premium