This report develops a Poor Quality Index (PQI) that measures the level of physical deficiencies in American Housing Survey (AHS) sample housing units. The AHS already contains a measure of housing adequacy, but adequacy is a narrower concept than quality. For some research purposes, a measure that uses all the AHS information on housing deficiencies may be more useful. Compared with the AHS measure, the PQI recognizes a broader range of deficiencies and has greater stability on the problem side between surveys. The goal is not to replace the AHS measure but to give researchers an alternative.