Interactive Map Illustrates Affordable Housing Needs Across U.S.

The Housing and Land Use policy program at the University of Iowa’s Public Policy Center has created an online interactive map to help policymakers, planners and housing advocates assess housing affordability trends in counties across the nation.  

The recently released 2014 State of the Nation’s Housing report notes that the lack of affordable housing in the U.S. is at record levels.  According to this report about 41 million households spend over 30% of their income on housing.  About half of all renter households are cost-burdened with about 28% of renter households spending over 50% of their income on housing. 
Even though the U.S. economy is making a steady comeback from the Great Recession, the housing sector continues to flounder.  Indeed, a 2014 MacArthur Foundation study found that about 70% of the public believes either that the housing crisis is still playing out, or that the worst of the crisis is yet to come.  This study also notes that between 2007 and 2011, the number of assisted housing units remained virtually unchanged, even as the number of households eligible for housing assistance increased by over 3 million.

To see how much the need for affordable housing changed between 1990 and 2010 in counties of your choice, click here.