Florida housing costs not highest in the nation, study finds. Here’s who took No. 1

WalletHub has released its ranking of the states that spend the most on housing — and it turns out the Sunshine State isn’t even in the top 10.

This may come as a shock for some Florida residents, as house prices have skyrocketed over the last few years, in part thanks to the huge influx of new residents following the onset of COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.

While there are also plenty of other factors, they don’t help the fact that many prospective homeowners have been hurt by the increases.

“Homeowners and home buyers have faced whiplash over the past few years, with housing prices soaring and interest rates fluctuating from historic lows back up to the highest rates in more than a decade,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo writes. “In some states, housing costs can take up around 50% of the median income.”

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To put its list together, WalletHub examined three main factors: the costs of rent, mortgage and home energy.

After gathering all the data, researchers revealed that the state where homeowners spend the most on housing is actually Hawaii.

“People in Hawaii spend the most on housing as a percentage of their income. The average Hawaiian shells out nearly 53% of their income between monthly mortgage payments and home energy costs. For comparison, Iowa residents only spend an average of less than 19% of their income on housing costs.

Hawaii residents actually have the fourth-highest median household income in the country, at $98,317. However, housing is so expensive in the state that people end up spending a disproportionate amount of their income on it.

Hawaii has both the most-expensive mortgage (principal and interest) payments and the highest home energy costs in the country, solidifying its rank as the costliest state in our study."

WalletHub, "States Where People Spend the Most & Least on Housing"

Meanwhile, Florida only ranked No. 13, with housing taking up just over 30% of homeowners’ median monthly income.

The rest of that ranking is as follows:

*Cost is calculated as a share of median monthly income

However, WalletHub also put together a ranking for states where renters spend the most on housing.

Unlike the previous list, Florida fared much worse this time around, coming in at No. 4 with a staggering 42.64%.

That ranking is as follows:

*Cost is calculated as a share of median monthly income