Groundbreaking study shows suburban tenants are facing more evictions across the US

The number of families evicted from their homes in suburbs across the country has been on the rise for years, according to a report from Princeton University's Eviction Lab.

Researchers compiled eviction judgment records from 74 U.S. metropolitan areas and found that as the number of evictions in city centers held steady from 2000 to 2016, the share of evictions in suburban areas increased in 58 of the metropolitan areas.

The Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio, metropolitan area experienced the largest increase in suburban evictions. In 2000, suburban evictions made up 43% of the area's total evictions, and increased by 2016 to 55%.

The report shows the number of households evicted in American suburbs is almost on par with the number of evictions in downtown, urban neighborhoods.

"These findings remind us that housing precarity and homelessness are not just urban issues," said Scott Allard, an expert on suburban poverty and professor of public policy at the University of Washington in Seattle.

What is an eviction notice?

An eviction is when a landlord, sometimes alongside law enforcement, makes a tenant leave a property owned by the landlord.

In a typical year, landlords file over 3.5 million eviction cases, according to Princeton's Eviction Lab. Not every eviction case leads to an eviction judgement, which is when someone must leave their home.

Data shows Black Americans, and especially Black women with children, face the highest rates of eviction, according to the Eviction Lab.

READ MORE: An eviction crisis for Black women

Even if a family is lucky enough to find housing in time to avoid homelessness, a sudden move can trigger a job loss, furthering the cycle of poverty, the Eviction Lab says.

In the Eviction Lab report, most suburban evictions happened because a tenant didn't pay rent, researchers said.

Last year, Oxfam America found about one-third of U.S. workers earn less than $15 per hour. Among working women of color, the number rises to 50%, researchers found.

“You can’t afford to pay rent in this country anymore if you’re just a minimum wage worker," U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge told USA TODAY.

WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I'M GETTING EVICTED?: Talk to the landlord? Get emergency help? Here are some tips

Low wages, inflation, and obstacles to accessing government-subsidized housing mean there aren't enough housing units for rent that low-income Americans can afford.

“There are many issues that confront us and there is just a lack of housing," Fudge said.

Suburban tenants who are evicted face a lack of housing assistance resources compared to tenants in urban areas, the report says.

Geographic sprawl combined with weaker public transit systems in suburbs mean being evicted in the suburbs can feel more isolating than being evicted in city centers, Eviction Lab researchers told USA TODAY.

RENTERS BILL OF RIGHTS: Can it ease crisis for tenants? Here's what to know

Majority of American poor live in suburbs

Since at least 2010, the majority of poor Americans have lived in suburbs, researchers with the Brookings Institution have found.

Poverty levels in the suburbs have been rising for decades, even though the public doesn't usually think of suburban neighborhoods as "poor," said Elizabeth Kneebone, an economist at the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank and author of the book "Confronting Suburban Poverty in America."

Starting in the early 2000s, the poor populations in the suburbs grew at a faster pace than poor populations in cities and rural areas, according to Kneebone.

There are also wide disparities between suburbs located around the same metro area, researchers at the Eviction Lab found.

"The suburban poor are increasingly concentrated in certain neighborhoods, creating stark inequalities between pockets of poverty and affluence," the report says.

In research published last year, the Eviction Lab found that it one in every six metropolitan areas studied, the suburban eviction rate was higher than the urban eviction rate.

HOW MUCH CAN MY LANDLORD INCREASE RENT?: Know your rights as a tenant.

Why are the suburbs getting poorer?

There are three main reasons why suburban populations are growing more poor, according to Allard and Kneebone.

• Low-income families have moved to suburbs in search of cheaper housing, the report says. Gentrification has played a major role in pushing poor Americans out of city centers and toward suburbs in cities like Seattle, the Eviction Lab says.

• People who have always lived in the suburbs are getting poorer. Rising inflation and stagnant wages have caused suburban residents who were once middle class to "slip below" the poverty line, Kneebone said.

• As high-paying manufacturing jobs in suburbs dried up, they were replaced by jobs in the service and retail sectors that pay a fraction of the salary, leaving those workers in a more precarious financial position in the suburbs, Allard said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Suburban Americans are facing more eviction notices than ever