Location Patterns of Housing Choice Voucher Households Between 2010 and 2020

Gretchen Armstrong
Alexander Din
Mariya Shcheglovitova
Rae Winegardner
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not represent the official positions or policies of the Office of Policy Development and Research, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or the U.S. Government.

The Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program has sought to enable neighborhood choice for low-income assisted renter households in the United States, replacing previous policies focused on fixed-site housing. Since the launch of the program 50 years ago, researchers have shown interest in measuring the effects of the HCV program on the spatial deconcentration of poverty and voucher households’ access to new neighborhoods and higher opportunity areas, typically defined as neighborhoods with lower poverty rates. The authors find that during the study period (2010–20), demographics of households served by the HCV program changed from families with children representing the most common voucher household structure to a majority of households headed by elderly or disabled individuals. Nationally, the share of housing units below fair market rent guidelines declined this decade. The share of HCV households living in neighborhoods with a high density of voucher holders increased, and more than 40 percent of HCV households remained in high-poverty neighborhoods. Changes affecting the HCV program are expected to continue. This article highlights the need for further research to evaluate the effect of policy changes on HCV locational outcomes.