The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies just dug into rental trends in the U.S., Canada and Europe and reported that Americans are now average rather than remarkable. About 33 percent of American households rent apartments or houses — placing the U.S. right in the middle of households that rent throughout the nations studied. And from that data point on, the U.S. stands out in unfavorable ways, says the report by Michael Carliner, senior research fellow. Americans are in worse shape than people in any other country when it comes to being able to afford the apartments and houses they rent.