Housing Cost
Housing costs measures how much of households’ incomes are spending on shelter. According to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), housing is considered unaffordable if it is more than 30% of the household’s income.
The percentage of Washingtonians spending more than 30% of their income on housing has generally remained the same (32%). This is due in part to a simultaneous rise in the median income of Washingtonians alongside the increasing housing costs. While the percentage of housing-burdened Washingtonians has remained the same, 32% means that around one in every three Washingtonians experience housing burden.
Renters and owners both experience housing cost burden. Around one-fifth of all owners spend more than 30 per cent of their annual household’s income on housing costs, and nearly half of renters (46 per cent) in Washington. Across counties, the incidence of housing stress varies. In Wahkiakum county, more than 1 in 6 renter households spend more than 30% of their income on housing.
It is important to note that while helpful, these average percentages can mask the experience of housing burden across different groups of households, particularly at varying income levels. Most incidence of housing cost burdened are concentrated among the lowest income households.
The housing cost indicators uses the data from the American Community Survey 5-year estimates. B25106 looks at the number of people who have housing costs that are <20%, 20% – 29%, ≥30% of their household income. Since housing is commonly considered unaffordable if people spend more than 30% of their income on housing, this indicator uses only data for people with housing costs ≥30% in B25106.
ACS 5-year estimate data are chosen over ACS 1-year estimate data because they are generally considered as more reliable for small populations and allow for the analysis of data across all 39 counties.
According to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), housing is considered unaffordable if it is more than 30% of the household’s income.