Rents in Reno increased more than 19 percent in the last five years and rents in Clark County increased by 17.5 percent.

Both of those increases are more than twice the rate of inflation, which was 8.37 percent over the same period, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

A new report from Apartment List says 26 percent of renters in Las Vegas are severely cost-burdened, meaning they pay more than 50 percent of their income toward rent, while 27 percent are moderately burdened, meaning they spend more than 30 percent of income on rent.

Severely cost-burdened households tend to sacrifice nutritious food and healthcare to pay housing costs.

Data from the newly-released American Community Survey and compiled by Apartment List puts the price of a one-bedroom apartment in Southern Nevada at $957 in September of 2019, up 17.5 percent from $791 five years ago. Median rent for a two-bedroom apartment was $1,186 last month, also up 17.5 from $980 in September 2014.

Rent in Clark County for September 2019 increased 3.6 percent year-to-year, more than twice the rate of inflation, which was 1.7 percent during the same time period.

In Reno, the cost of a one-bedroom apartment was $903 last month, up 19 percent from September 2014 when a one-bedroom apartment cost $729. The price of a two-bedroom apartment in September was $1,175, up 19.5 percent from five years ago when the same apartment rented for $949. Year-to-year, the rent for a one-bedroom apartment increased .6 percent from $897 to $903 in Reno and a two-bedroom apartment increased .6 percent from $1168 to $1175.

“There’s a lot more inventory in the system, which is impacting rates and vacancies. We are seeing tiny hints of stabilization as units are absorbed but it is definitely an impact, anytime you see release of units into the market,” Suzy Vasquez, executive director of the Nevada State Apartment Association told the Current earlier this year. Vasquez was unavailable for comment on this story.

Apartment List reports the share of cost-burdened renters nationally is on the rise, with about half of American renters struggling to afford housing.

Roughly half of Nevadans are renters, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. About one in five (more than 90,000 households) have extremely-low-incomes, meaning they earn no more than 30 percent of the area median income of $64,800.

Nevada has a shortage of 73,158 rental units for extremely low-income households, according to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition.