If you are spending more than 30 per cent of your income on rent and utilities, you are not alone.

In fact, 28 per cent of New Brunswickers are in that boat, according to the updated Canadian Rental Housing Index.

New Brunswick sits below the national average which, according to the index, is 33 per cent.

British Columbia and Ontario have the highest proportion at 38 per cent, followed by Nova Scotia at 35 per cent. Nunavut has the lowest at five per cent.

When you look at the proportion of people spending more than half of their income on rent and utilities, New Brunswick sits at eight per cent, compared to the national average of 13 per cent.

Average rents in the province increased 17 per cent between 2016 and 2021 to $869, according to the index.

Nationwide, average rents jumped between four per cent in Alberta to as much as 30 per cent in British Columbia.

The index also found five per cent of New Brunswick renters are living in overcrowded conditions, a 29 per cent increase from five years earlier. The national average is 10 per cent.

Meanwhile, eight per cent of renters are living in units in need of major repairs, compared to the national average of seven per cent.