“I’m Looking for Somebody That Has Had a Job for a Year and Can Prove It”: Landlords’ Search for the Working Tenant

Renters in the United States increasingly face barriers to securing stable and affordable housing, as tenant screening practices place growing emphasis on indicators of economic stability. This study explores how small- and mid-sized landlords—who supply a large portion of the nation’s affordable rental stock—evaluate prospective tenants, giving particular attention to employment status, an underexamined aspect of source of income (SOI) discrimination. The analysis is situated within a broader context of labor market transformation, marked by the expansion of precarious, contingent, and nonstandard employment. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 57 landlords in the Cleveland metropolitan area, the study finds that many landlords prioritize tenants with full-time and long-term employment, viewing such employment as a signal of financial reliability and responsible tenancy. However, a notable subset of landlords expressed less concern with employment status when applicants held housing vouchers, perceiving the voucher as a more secure and consistent source of rent. These findings reveal that access to housing is shaped not simply by income, but by landlords’ perceptions of income stability. Addressing the housing crisis, therefore, requires policy solutions which acknowledge labor market precarity, and consider how evolving employment conditions intersect with landlord screening practices to deepen housing insecurity.