Raw Data: The Rental Vacancy Rate in the US

This is, once again, only national data, but it still provides a useful big picture view of what the rental market looks like. When the rental vacancy rate is low, it means the market is tight and rents are likely to increase. Here’s the national vacancy rate for as long as we have data for:

The rental market was noticeably loose during the aughts and then tightened during the Great Recession. But it’s not unusually tight right now. In fact, it’s right at its average for the past 60 years.

This doesn’t tell you anything about, say, the Bay Area or New York City. However, it does tell you that, overall, the market right now is fairly normal. There doesn’t really seem to be any big immediate need for a national program to boost housing.

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

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