Countries by Housing Cost Burden

Complete ranking of 36 countries • Percentage of households • Updated 2026

Ready to play?

Think you can call the next one?

Use this Housing Cost Burden briefing as a warm-up, then jump into a fast country round.

Colombia leads all 36 countries in Housing Cost Burden with a value of 49.46% of households, while Czechia ranks last at 3.26% of households. This represents a 15-fold difference between the highest and lowest values.

What Housing Cost Burden Measures

Share of households carrying a high housing-cost burden, from OECD How's Life / Well-Being.

Why This Ranking Matters

Examining Housing Cost Burden across all countries reveals patterns that might not be obvious at the national level. Regional clusters, outlier nations, and historical trajectories all become clearer when the full global picture is assembled in a single ranking.

Global Range

Values range from 3.26% of households (Czechia) to 49.46% of households (Colombia) — a 15-fold difference across 36 countries.

Regional Patterns

European countries dominate this ranking, holding 14 of the top 20 positions. This strong regional concentration suggests shared economic, geographic, or policy factors that drive higher values across the continent.

Values are broadly distributed across countries, with the middle 50% ranging from 11.25% of households to 24.06% of households. The overall spread from 3.26% of households to 49.46% of households reflects significant global variation.

Notable Outliers

The top of the ranking is competitive: Colombia and Chile are separated by only 7%, indicating that the leading positions could shift with updated data.

Continental Leaders

North America

Colombia

49.46% of households

South America

Chile

46.23% of households

Europe

Hungary

35.48% of households

Asia

Japan

19.05% of households

Oceania

Australia

13.83% of households

Highest Housing Cost Burden

The 5 strongest Housing Cost Burden reads.

Colombia49.46% of households Chile46.23% of households Hungary35.48% of households Luxembourg34.12% of households United States28.98% of households

Lowest Housing Cost Burden

The 5 lowest Housing Cost Burden reads.

Czechia3.26% of households Slovenia6.13% of households Latvia7.37% of households Mexico8.26% of households South Korea8.85% of households

Data Note

Rankings are based on the latest available data from OECD How's Life / Well-Being, covering 36 of 249 countries and territories. Countries without data for this metric are excluded from the ranking. All values represent the most recently reported figures.

Top 10 Countries

1stColombia49.46% of households

2ndChile46.23% of households

3rdHungary35.48% of households

4thLuxembourg34.12% of households

5thUnited States28.98% of households

6thGreece25.26% of households

7thCosta Rica24.75% of households

8thSpain24.11% of households

9thFinland24.06% of households

10thDenmark23% of households

Country Ladder

1stColombiaNorth America49.46% of households 2ndChileSouth America46.23% of households 3rdHungaryEurope35.48% of households 4thLuxembourgEurope34.12% of households 5thUnited StatesNorth America28.98% of households 6thGreeceEurope25.26% of households 7thCosta RicaNorth America24.75% of households 8thSpainEurope24.11% of households 9thFinlandEurope24.06% of households 10thDenmarkEurope23% of households 11thIcelandEurope22.72% of households 12thSwedenEurope21.82% of households 13thCanadaNorth America19.78% of households 14thSwitzerlandEurope19.68% of households 15thJapanAsia19.05% of households 16thPortugalEurope19.01% of households 17thUnited KingdomEurope18.5% of households 18thNorwayEurope15.95% of households 19thLithuaniaEurope15.76% of households 20thBelgiumEurope15.47% of households 21stTurkeyEurope14.94% of households 22ndItalyEurope14.26% of households 23rdAustraliaOceania13.83% of households 24thNetherlandsEurope12.83% of households 25thAustriaEurope12.41% of households 26thPolandEurope11.39% of households 27thFranceEurope11.25% of households 28thEstoniaEurope11.03% of households 29thSlovakiaEurope10.84% of households 30thIrelandEurope9.3% of households 31stGermanyEurope9.2% of households 32ndSouth KoreaAsia8.8% of households 33rdMexicoNorth America8.3% of households 34thLatviaEurope7.4% of households 35thSloveniaEurope6.1% of households 36thCzechiaEurope3.3% of households

Housing Cost Burden ranking for 36 countries
				Percentile
1st	Colombia	49.46% of households	North America	100%
2nd	Chile	46.23% of households	South America	97%
3rd	Hungary	35.48% of households	Europe	94%
4th	Luxembourg	34.12% of households	Europe	92%
5th	United States	28.98% of households	North America	89%
6th	Greece	25.26% of households	Europe	86%
7th	Costa Rica	24.75% of households	North America	83%
8th	Spain	24.11% of households	Europe	81%
9th	Finland	24.06% of households	Europe	78%
10th	Denmark	23% of households	Europe	75%
11th	Iceland	22.72% of households	Europe	72%
12th	Sweden	21.82% of households	Europe	69%
13th	Canada	19.78% of households	North America	67%
14th	Switzerland	19.68% of households	Europe	64%
15th	Japan	19.05% of households	Asia	61%
16th	Portugal	19.01% of households	Europe	58%
17th	United Kingdom	18.5% of households	Europe	56%
18th	Norway	15.95% of households	Europe	53%
19th	Lithuania	15.76% of households	Europe	50%
20th	Belgium	15.47% of households	Europe	47%
21st	Turkey	14.94% of households	Europe	44%
22nd	Italy	14.26% of households	Europe	42%
23rd	Australia	13.83% of households	Oceania	39%
24th	Netherlands	12.83% of households	Europe	36%
25th	Austria	12.41% of households	Europe	33%
26th	Poland	11.39% of households	Europe	31%
27th	France	11.25% of households	Europe	28%
28th	Estonia	11.03% of households	Europe	25%
29th	Slovakia	10.84% of households	Europe	22%
30th	Ireland	9.3% of households	Europe	19%
31st	Germany	9.2% of households	Europe	17%
32nd	South Korea	8.8% of households	Asia	14%
33rd	Mexico	8.3% of households	North America	11%
34th	Latvia	7.4% of households	Europe	8%
35th	Slovenia	6.1% of households	Europe	6%
36th	Czechia	3.3% of households	Europe	3%

View World Map Metric Briefing Start Quick Brawl