Downtown Stamford as seen from a platform at the Stamford Transportation Center. (Courtesy Photo / Public Domain / DBen)

Stamford’s multifamily boom is reshaping the city’s demographics, with a new report finding more of the city’s residents rent than own homes.

Stamford and Waterbury were among the 20 cities nation-wide that became majority-renter in the 2010s, according to a review of U.S. Census Bureau data by rental listings site RentCafe.

Renters’ share of Stamford’s population grew by 3 percent over the decade to 50.1 percent in 2018. Waterbury saw a much bigger growth in renters, with renters’ share of that city’s population growing 14.6 percent to 56 percent. Toledo, Ohio saw the largest growth in the share of its population who rents, at 22.8 percent.

The review also found both Hartford and New Haven are among the top five areas nation-wide by share of the population that rents. Three-fourths of Hartford residents rent, compared to 77 percent of Manhattan residents and 71 percent of New Haven residents.

So far this year, Stamford has permitted 1,076 apartment units, according to the Department of Economic and Community Development, with 713 of those units permitted in October, alone.