Majority of Louisiana Residents Who Owe Back Rent Are at Risk of Eviction

BATON ROUGE (The Center Square) — The economic fallout that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic put millions of Americans out of work. Without a steady source of income, many were unable to pay for basic necessities, like shelter. To address the issue, the U.S. Department of the Treasury enacted the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which allocated up to $46.5 billion to help Americans struggling to afford housing and utilities.

Due in part to bureaucratic delays at state and local levels, however, less than 40% of that money had been spent as of the end of January 2022 – and in much of the country, a large share of the population is behind on rent and facing possible eviction.

According to data collected between Jan. 26, 2022 to Feb. 7, 2022 by the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, about 4.4 million Americans agreed that they were either “somewhat likely” or “very likely” to have to leave their home within the next two months due to eviction. That amounts to 43.4% of the 10.1 million renters nationwide who are behind on rent payments.

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Louisiana is home to some 110,640 renters who owe their landlords rent, and an estimated 63.4% of them reported being either somewhat likely or very likely to face eviction in the coming months – the third largest share among states.

Many of those at risk of losing their home are not confident that they can afford to make future rent payments. Some are also burdened with multiple months of debt from back rent. A reported 25,087 renters in the state – or 22.7% of all renters with some rental debt – are three months behind or more on their rent. For context, 26.2% of renters nationwide who owe back rent are three months behind or more.

 

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Rank State Somewhat or very likely to leave home due to eviction (% of all renters who owe back rent) Renters who owe back rent and are 3 or more months behind on rental payment (%) Renters who owe any back rent in state
1 Utah 67.1 24.5 30,370
2 Alabama 65.8 22.9 133,160
3 Louisiana 63.4 22.7 110,640
4 Pennsylvania 63.1 31.3 299,730
5 Wisconsin 61.5 37.4 172,740
6 Maine 60.3 16.3 30,810
7 Idaho 59.4 19.4 22,840
8 Texas 57.4 24.7 634,480
9 Georgia 55.2 25.5 259,920
10 Wyoming 55.0 42.6 18,750
11 Ohio 54.7 16.9 233,870
12 Illinois 52.1 26.7 495,440
13 Arkansas 49.7 33.5 96,440
14 New Jersey 48.6 29.7 393,100
15 Oklahoma 47.9 21.2 169,000
16 California 46.9 27.1 1,592,050
17 New Mexico 46.5 31.8 57,040
18 Michigan 46.0 34.7 283,270
19 Nebraska 45.0 9.3 39,070
20 Maryland 44.4 43.1 200,850
21 South Carolina 44.4 43.6 179,130
22 Mississippi 42.9 59.1 139,000
23 West Virginia 42.2 31.1 47,680
24 Florida 40.9 15.0 608,570
25 North Carolina 40.2 26.9 211,820
26 Tennessee 39.6 20.2 142,980
27 Arizona 38.3 15.0 168,170
28 Oregon 38.0 34.6 111,530
29 New York 37.7 25.8 1,303,390
30 New Hampshire 36.2 32.2 24,700
31 Montana 35.7 18.3 24,230
32 Massachusetts 34.5 13.4 229,090
33 Kentucky 33.0 36.9 78,230
34 Kansas 31.7 9.7 65,470
35 Washington 31.6 21.3 190,740
36 North Dakota 31.3 16.8 25,460
37 South Dakota 30.9 53.4 22,750
38 Minnesota 29.5 24.6 99,110
39 Indiana 28.2 11.6 184,730
40 Virginia 24.1 8.2 211,290
41 Nevada 24.1 51.3 156,530
42 Vermont 22.5 41.0 7,420
43 Rhode Island 22.4 19.0 34,840
44 Missouri 20.4 31.0 203,720
45 Colorado 19.2 16.3 77,920
46 Connecticut 19.2 33.2 120,370
47 Hawaii 19.1 12.9 70,410
48 Delaware 14.2 28.2 25,180
49 Iowa 11.7 29.9 44,470
50 Alaska 10.5 31.3 12,640

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