As per the Brookings Institute, America’s inequitable housing system is completely unprepared for coronavirus. This is especially true for rent-burdened low-income people in the most expensive of the 30 metropolitan1 areas with the most confirmed COVID-19 cases.
The COVID-19 Hot Spots with median gross rents that are more expensive than the US median gross rent ($1,058) are as follows:
| MSA | Median Gross Rent | % of Renters who are Rent Burdened2 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA | $1,944 | 45.5% |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $1,670 | 47.5% |
| San Diego-Carlsbad, CA | $1,668 | 57.8% |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $1,565 | 56.9% |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $1,501 | 49.6% |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | $1,434 | 52.2% |
| Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | $1,388 | 51.4% |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | $1,360 | 62.7% |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | $1,321 | 59.2% |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | $1,265 | 49.9% |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | $1,217 | 55.8% |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $1,169 | 50.0% |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $1,152 | 47.2% |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | $1,134 | 51.0% |
| Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV | $1,130 | 53.2% |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | $1,128 | 53.0% |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ | $1,117 | 46.9% |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | $1,110 | 47.7% |
| Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | $1,094 | 49.3% |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | $1,090 | 46.1% |
| Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN | $1,081 | 47.1% |
Source: US Census, 2018 1-year ACS
1 As of 1/22/21, the 30 MSAs with the most confirmed COVID-19 cases are: 1. New York City, 2. Los Angeles, 3. Chicago, 4. Dallas, 5. Miami, 6. Riverside, 7. Phoenix, 8. Houston, 9. Atlanta, 10. Philadelphia, 11. DC, 12. Boston, 13. Twin Cities, 14. Detroit, 15. St. Louis, 16. San Diego, 17. Nashville, 18. Las Vegas, 19. Denver, 20. San Francisco. 21. Charlotte, 22. Tampa, 23. San Antonio, 24. Indianapolis, 25. Orlando, 26. Cincinnati, 27. Milwaukee, 28. Columbus, 29. Kansas City, 30. Baltimore; per https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html.
2 Rent burdened is defined as a rental household that is paying more than 30% monthly household income in rent