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Worst Case

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Worst Case Housing Needs

 

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*Total number of households may differ from the sum of the breakout groups due to rounding.


Notes:

  • The previous reports to Congress on Worst Case Needs from which these data are extracted are available online at https://www.huduser.gov/portal/AFWCN.html.
  • All estimates are based on HUD-PD&R tabulations of American Housing Survey (AHS) data. For more information on the AHS, see: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ahs.html.
  • The horizontal axis is not to scale for reporting intervals prior to 1989 that span more than two years, which can exaggerate the slope of the line over those intervals.

a = Total households includes both homeowners and renters. Households in this table are not limited to very low-income subgroups (household incomes at or below 50 percent of HUD Area Median Family Income) used to measure worst case needs. Sums across breakout groups may differ because of rounding.

b = Severe problems means severe housing cost burdens exceeding 50 percent of income or severely inadequate housing involving plumbing, heating, electrical, or upkeep.

c = Other problems means moderate housing cost burdens of 30 to 50 percent of income or moderately inadequate housing, including overcrowding, but no severe inadequacies.

d = Assisted refers to households who report receiving rental assistance and thus includes only renter households.

Values for assisted households shown for 1987, 1989, and 1999 were previously reported with different values, and have been replaced with corresponding values from the Renters table.

e = The American Housing Survey used the same panel of housing units from 1985 to 2013. A new sample of units drawn in 2015 may limit comparability with previous estimates.

Notes:

  • The previous reports to Congress on Worst Case Needs from which these data are extracted are available online at https://www.huduser.gov/portal/AFWCN.html.
  • All estimates are based on HUD-PD&R tabulations of American Housing Survey (AHS) data. For more information on the AHS, see: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ahs.html.
  • The horizontal axis is not to scale for reporting intervals prior to 1989 that span more than two years, which can exaggerate the slope of the line over those intervals.

a = Renter households in this table are not limited to very low-income subgroups (household incomes at or below 50 percent of HUD Area Median Family Income) used to measure worst case needs. Sums across breakout groups may differ because of rounding.

b = Severe problems means severe housing cost burdens exceeding 50 percent of income or severely inadequate housing involving plumbing, heating, electrical, or upkeep.

c = Other problems means moderate housing cost burdens of 30 to 50 percent of income or moderately inadequate housing, including overcrowding, but no severe inadequacies.

d = Assisted refers to households who report receiving rental assistance.

e = The American Housing Survey used the same panel of housing units from 1985 to 2013. A new sample of units drawn in 2015 may limit comparability with previous estimates.

Notes:

  • The previous reports to Congress on Worst Case Needs from which these data are extracted are available online at https://www.huduser.gov/portal/AFWCN.html.
  • All estimates are based on HUD-PD&R tabulations of American Housing Survey (AHS) data. For more information on the AHS, see: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ahs.html.
  • The horizontal axis is not to scale for reporting intervals prior to 1989 that span more than two years, which can exaggerate the slope of the line over those intervals.

a = Renter households in this table are limited to very low-income subgroups (household incomes at or below 50 percent of HUD Area Median Family Income) used to measure worst case needs. Sums across breakout groups may differ because of rounding.

b = Severe problems means severe housing cost burdens exceeding 50 percent of income or severely inadequate housing involving plumbing, heating, electrical, or upkeep. Estimates in this column represent worst case housing needs.

c = Other problems means moderate housing cost burdens of 30 to 50 percent of income or moderately inadequate housing, including overcrowding, but no severe inadequacies.

d = Assisted refers to households who report receiving rental assistance.

e = The American Housing Survey used the same panel of housing units from 1985 to 2013. A new sample of units drawn in 2015 may limit comparability with previous estimates.

Notes:

  • The previous reports to Congress on Worst Case Needs from which these data are extracted are available online at https://www.huduser.gov/portal/AFWCN.html.
  • All estimates are based on HUD-PD&R tabulations of American Housing Survey (AHS) data. For more information on the AHS, see: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ahs.html.
  • The horizontal axis is not to scale for reporting intervals prior to 1989 that span more than two years, which can exaggerate the slope of the line over those intervals.

a = Owner-occupant households in this table are not limited to very low-income subgroups (household incomes at or below 50 percent of HUD Area Median Family Income) used to measure worst case needs. Sums across breakout groups may differ because of rounding.

b = Severe problems means severe housing cost burdens exceeding 50 percent of income or severely inadequate housing involving plumbing, heating, electrical, or upkeep.

c = Other problems means moderate housing cost burdens of 30 to 50 percent of income or moderately inadequate housing, including overcrowding, but no severe inadequacies.

d = The American Housing Survey used the same panel of housing units from 1985 to 2013. A new sample of units drawn in 2015 may limit comparability with previous estimates.

Notes:

a = Estimates prior to 1993 excluded because for owners 60% was used as the threshold for severe cost burden.

b = Owner-occupant households in this table are limited to very low-income subgroups (household incomes at or below 50 percent of HUD Area Median Family Income) used to measure worst case needs among renter households. Sums across breakout groups may differ because of rounding.

c = Severe problems means severe housing cost burdens exceeding 50 percent of income or severely inadequate housing involving plumbing, heating, electrical, or upkeep.

d = Other problems means moderate housing cost burdens of 30 to 50 percent of income or moderately inadequate housing, including overcrowding, but no severe inadequacies.

e = The American Housing Survey used the same panel of housing units from 1985 to 2013. A new sample of units drawn in 2015 may limit comparability with previous estimates.

Notes:

a = Renters are assigned to income categories using HUD's Section 8 income limits, which are adjusted for household size. Estimates of sufficiency are cumulative over lower income categories.

For Low-Income, incomes are not greater than 80 percent of HUD Area Median Family Income (HAMFI).

For Very Low-Income, incomes are not greater than 50 percent of HAMFI.

For Extremely Low-Income, incomes are not greater than 30 percent of HAMFI or, after 2015, not greater than 30 percent of the greater of HAMFI or the federal poverty guideline. See Alvarez and Steffen (2021), p.89.

b = Affordable units are rental units with gross rent (contract rent plus utilities) not exceeding 30 percent of the income limit for the specified income group.

c = Affordable and Available units are those that are affordable for the specified income group, and either vacant or currently occupied by a household in that group.

d = Affordable, Available, and Adequate units are those that are affordable and available, as well as free of severe physical inadequacies.