Why 1 in 27 American Households Uses Rent-to-Own

One in every 27 American households uses rent-to-own each year. That is not a niche market — it is millions of families choosing a lease-based path to essential goods because the traditional credit system does not work for them. At VRTO (Virtual Rent To Own), we track every rent-to-own store in the country. Here is what the data actually tells us about who uses RTO, why they use it, and where the industry is headed.

The Size of the Rent-to-Own Market

The rent-to-own industry generates approximately $12 billion in annual revenue across more than 10,000 store locations in all 50 states, according to the Association of Progressive Rental Organizations (APRO). The 1-in-27 household figure comes from APRO's 2025 Industry Health Survey, and it represents active agreements — people who signed a rental-purchase agreement within the past 12 months.

To put that in perspective, there are roughly 131 million households in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau). One in 27 means approximately 4.8 million households used RTO in the past year. That is more people than live in the state of Louisiana.

This figure does not include virtual rent-to-own — point-of-sale leasing offered by companies like Progressive Leasing and Acima at traditional retail stores. When virtual RTO is included, the total number of Americans using lease-to-own arrangements is significantly higher.

What People Rent to Own: Category Breakdown

Not all rent-to-own products are created equal. The industry's revenue breaks down into four major categories, each with different economics, lease terms, and consumer motivations:

Furniture dominates at 35% of revenue because it covers the broadest range of needs — from a college student's first sofa to a family replacing a decade-old dining set. Appliances at 25% represent the most defensible RTO category because a broken refrigerator or washer is an emergency, not a want. Electronics at 20% carry the highest markups due to rapid depreciation, making the early purchase option (EPO) especially important in this category.

Who Uses Rent-to-Own? The Credit Invisibility Problem

The rent-to-own market exists because the American credit system has a massive gap. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) estimates that 26 million American adults have no credit history at all — they are completely invisible to the credit reporting system. Another 19 million have credit files that are too thin or too outdated to generate a FICO score.

Together, that is 45 million adults who cannot qualify for a store credit card, a personal loan, or even many buy-now-pay-later services. These are not irresponsible people. Many of them pay rent, utilities, and phone bills every month — payments that do not count toward a traditional credit score. They include:

• Young adults furnishing their first apartment with no credit history to draw on
• Immigrants with steady income but no U.S. credit file
• Military families whose frequent relocations disrupt credit-building patterns
• Seniors who paid off all debts and let their credit files go stale
• Anyone rebuilding after bankruptcy, divorce, or medical debt

Rent-to-own serves these 45 million people by asking a simpler question than "What is your credit score?" It asks: "Can you afford the weekly payment?" A valid ID and proof of income are typically all that is required.

Income Volatility: The Hidden Driver of RTO Demand

Credit invisibility explains who uses RTO. Income volatility explains why they need the flexibility RTO provides.

The Pew Charitable Trusts found that nearly 60% of American households experience significant month-to-month swings in income or expenses. Your hours get cut one week. Your car needs a repair the next. A medical bill arrives the week after that. This is not poverty — it is the lived reality of hourly work, gig employment, seasonal jobs, and commission-based pay.

The Federal Reserve reinforces this picture: roughly 40% of Americans cannot cover a $400 emergency expense without borrowing or selling something. When your washing machine breaks and you do not have $600 for a replacement, your options are limited. A credit card requires a credit check. A personal loan requires a credit score. Buy-now-pay-later requires you to pay the full amount within weeks. Rent-to-own asks for $15 to $25 per week and lets you return the item if you cannot keep up.

This is why RTO agreements are structured around weekly and biweekly payments — they align with how hourly and gig workers actually get paid, not with the monthly billing cycles that the credit system assumes.

The Ownership Rate: Only About 25% Complete the Agreement

Here is a statistic that surprises most people: APRO reports that only about 25% of rent-to-own agreements result in the customer purchasing the item. The other 75% end with the customer returning the product voluntarily.

This is not a failure of the model — it is the model working as designed. RTO is a terminable lease, not a purchase commitment. The 2024 CFPB v. Snap Finance court ruling confirmed this: RTO agreements lack "any contractual right to defer payment of a debt." When customers return items, they owe nothing further. No debt. No credit damage. No collections.

What does this mean in practice? Most RTO customers use it as a short-term solution:

• A family rents a washer for six months while saving for a permanent replacement
• A college student rents furniture for two semesters and returns it after graduation
• A military family rents appliances during a temporary assignment and returns them at PCS
• A parent rents a laptop for a child's school year and returns it over summer

For the 25% who do complete the agreement and take ownership, the early purchase option (EPO) can save 40–60% of total payments if exercised within 90 days. Use the VRTO payment calculator to estimate your total cost under different scenarios.

The Growth of Virtual Rent-to-Own

The fastest-growing segment of the industry is virtual rent-to-own — point-of-sale leasing offered at traditional retail stores. Companies like Progressive Leasing and Acima partner with retailers including furniture stores, electronics retailers, tire shops, and jewelry stores to offer RTO at checkout.

Here is how virtual RTO works: you shop at a regular retail store, apply for store credit, get declined, and are then offered a lease-to-own option as an alternative. Same product, same store, same day — but instead of a credit account, you have a lease agreement with weekly or biweekly payments.

Virtual RTO has expanded the market significantly because it reaches consumers who would never have visited a dedicated RTO store. It also puts RTO in direct competition with buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) services, though with a critical difference: RTO does not require a credit check and allows you to return the item at any time without penalty.

RTO Is Regulated — 47 State Statutes

Rent-to-own is not an unregulated market. Forty-seven states have enacted RTO-specific statutes that require stores to disclose the cash price, the total of all payments, the customer's right to return at any time, reinstatement rights, and early purchase options. The FTC regulates the industry at the federal level as a leasing market, not a lending market.

Three states — Minnesota, New Jersey, and Wisconsin — classify RTO as credit sales, which imposes additional consumer protections including interest rate disclosures and cooling-off periods.

This regulatory framework means that RTO stores must be transparent about costs. The total cost of all payments — the number consumers most need to see — is required by law in nearly every state. If a store will not tell you the total cost, they are likely violating state law.

The Honest Cost Picture

RTO costs more than retail. This is a fact, and it should be stated plainly. A $500 refrigerator might cost $900 to $1,200 over 12 to 18 months of weekly payments. That is a markup of 1.8x to 2.4x. The premium covers delivery, setup, maintenance, the risk of non-completion (remember, 75% of items are returned), and the absence of a credit check.

The question is not whether RTO costs more — it does. The question is whether the alternative is better for your situation. If you have $500 in savings, buy the fridge outright. If you qualify for a credit card with a 0% introductory rate, use that. But if your washing machine just broke, you have $50 in your checking account, and you need clean clothes for work on Monday, rent-to-own solves that problem today.

Use the VRTO payment calculator to see the real numbers before you visit a store. Compare stores in your area through our national directory. And always ask about the early purchase option — it is the single most effective way to reduce your total cost.

Finding Stores Near You

VRTO lists every rent-to-own store in America — national chains and independents alike — in one searchable directory. Browse by state, search by city, or explore specific product categories to compare options in your area. Every listing includes hours, contact information, product categories, and links to get directions.