TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – A new study shows Tallahassee ranks near the bottom in affordable rents, though a University of Florida professor says that\u2019s more indicative of statewide housing issues than capital city problems.<\/p>\n
The study, from WalletHub<\/a>, indicates Tallahassee ranks 158 out of 182 cities studied. Tallahassee residents spend about 27% of their median annual income on rent, the study found. In a separate WalletHub analysis in 2025<\/a>, Tallahassee was ranked as the most well-run city in the Sunshine State. <\/p>\n Anne Ray, the interim director of the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies at UF, said the data is skewed for college towns like Tallahassee and Gainesville because incomes are \u201cartificially low.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cIn this case, they\u2019re looking at income and rents from the census,\u201d Ray said. \u201cAnd the income numbers for Tallahassee, for Gainesville, they\u2019re artificially low because they include all the student populations.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s not to say renters in Florida aren\u2019t struggling. A 2025 report from the Shimberg Center found that over 900,000 Floridians who rent were struggling to afford it.<\/p>\n \u201cHousing costs have stabilized, maybe even dropped back a little bit, but they\u2019ve stabilized at those higher levels,\u201d Ray said. \u201cSo incomes have not kept pace. So that gap is now kind of baked into our housing cost and income calculations.\u201d<\/p>\n More Tallahassee news:<\/p>\n Tallahassee planners previously said the capital county needs 23,000 new homes or apartments by 2050, and they\u2019ve taken steps in their \u201ccomprehensive plan\u201d to both \u201cinfill\u201d urban areas and expand into more rural ones.<\/p>\n The Community Redevelopment Agency, overseen by the Tallahassee city commissioners and mayor, has given tax breaks to student housing projects<\/a> in an effort to ensure housing needs are met. Ray said all types of housing developments are helpful.<\/p>\n \u201cNot surprisingly, international migration is way down to Florida,\u201d Ray said. \u201cAnd so our population growth has slowed quite a bit. The places that are growing are the places where there\u2019s a lot of new home construction, maybe outside of the major metro areas, places like Polk County, Pasco County, Marion County.\u201d<\/p>\n In comparison to Tallahassee\u2019s 27% of median income, WalletHub found that in the top-ranked city of Bismarck, ND, renters paid about 15% of their incomes to landlords yearly.<\/p>\n Ray said Tallahassee\u2019s economy and housing markets are actually stable, driven mostly by government and university jobs or related careers. But, she added there\u2019s no longer an expectation that someone working their first career job can afford a home, and the relativity of Tallahassee\u2019s market doesn\u2019t help those who are struggling.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re having trouble affording your housing, if you\u2019re having trouble finding something, the fact that it would\u2019ve been even harder in Miami, that doesn\u2019t really affect you,\u201d Ray said. \u201cYou need an apartment and you need a place that meets your needs, where you can get to the grocery store, get to work. It\u2019s not all relative.\u201d<\/p>\n To keep up with the latest news as it develops, follow WCTV on Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, Nextdoor<\/a> <\/a>and X<\/a> (Twitter<\/a>).<\/p>\n Have a news tip or see an error? Write to us here<\/a>. Please include the article\u2019s headline in your message.<\/p>\n Be the first to see all the biggest headlines by downloading the WCTV News app. Click here<\/a> to get started.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 WCTV. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n