Addressing Housing as a Cornerstone for Community Health
The high cost of housing affects every county in the nation, particularly urban communities. More than one in ten households live with the burden of severe housing costs. In other words, they spend more than half of what they earn on rent or mortgage payments. This is particularly true in larger urban metro counties, where the percentage of households that are housing cost burdened is higher than in smaller metro, suburban, or rural counties. In many communities, the increase in housing costs have outpaced increases in local incomes. Renters are also disproportionately burdened by high housing costs with one in four renters impacted. And low-income renters experience an even greater financial burden with one in two spending more than half their paycheck on rent.