This report deals with current trends in operating costs and receipts in public housing in the United States, based on detailed statistical analysis of the experience of 23 large local housing authorities from 1965 through 1968. It seeks to establish the relative importance of such factors as general price and wage inflation, tenant characteristics, building age, and number of units in accelerating operating costs. It analyzes public housing rental receipts in the same 23 cities in an attempt to establish an aggregate picture of the functioning of the present public housing rent system. Finally, it considers current and possible future trends in the factors influencing costs and rents.

The findings of the report are useful in a number of ways. They are of immediate use in understanding the causes of operating deficits in many public housing authorities and in judging probable future trends in deficits. They shed light on the economic effects of some of the various options for combating deficits, including rent increases or higher federal payments. They could be used as a tool for comparing the financial experience of an individual housing authority with what might be expected in the light of its location, age, size, and tenants, though this possible use is not explored in the report.

This report is part of the collection of scanned historical documents available to the public.