Access to affordable rent allows people to choose to live in neighborhoods with the communities, services and amenities that can support their households to thrive. Increasing access to housing provides greater opportunity for all people to choose safe and stable homes to meets their needs.
For this measure, we are focused on renter households and define a census tract as affordable (i.e., having access to affordable rent) if its median gross rent is equal to or less than 30% of the median household income for renters within the region or for a specific group. Across the region or a county, the share of affordable census tracts is calculated to represent the proportion of neighborhoods that is accessible to a typical renter household.
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Access to Affordable Rent Map
Source(s): U.S. Census Bureau, 2018-2022 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, Table B25064; U.S. Census Bureau, 2018-2022 ACS 5-Year Public Use Microdata Sample; U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division 2020 TIGER/Line Shapefiles
* The regional affordability threshold for monthly rent is defined as 30% of the regional monthly median household income.
Insights & Analysis
- Regional affordability threshold for monthly rent, based on 30% of the regional median household income for renters ($71,91000/year), is $1,800.
- Access to affordable rent is highest in Pierce (65% of tracts), followed by Kitsap County (64%), Snohomish (43%), and King (31%).
- Ten census tracts tied with the highest median gross rent ($3,500) are all in King County: one is in Seattle (Montlake neighborhood), two are in southern Mercer Island, two are in Clyde Hill/Hunts Point/Medina/Yarrow Point, four are in Bellevue, one is in Auburn (West Hill).
- The highest median gross rent in Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish County are in: the southeastern portion of Bainbridge Island ($2,720), Tehaleh community south of Bonney Lake ($3,090), and the Edmonds/southern Mukilteo area ($3,280), respectively.
- Relatively affordable areas are in south Seattle, south King County, Tacoma/central Pierce County, along the I-5 corridor in Snohomish County and in communities farther out from the region’s urban centers.
Source(s): U.S. Census Bureau, 2018-2022 American Community Survey 5-Year Public Use Microdata Sample
Insights & Analysis
- Renters with a disability have access to affordable rent in 3% of the region’s census tracts.
- There is a 53 percentage point difference in the regional share of affordable tracts between renter households with older adults (1%) and other renter households (54%).
- Renters of color in King County have access to affordable rent in 32% of the census tracts, while white non-Hispanic renters may find 57% of the tracts to be affordable, the largest difference among the counties.
- While the renter affordability gap between people of color and white non-Hispanic people is notable, it is likely even bigger for some racial subgroups (more information about the way in which housing opportunities are different among racial subgroups is available in the Regional Housing Strategy: 2023 Monitoring Report.
- For households living below 200% of poverty level, there is no access to affordable rent.
- The disparity in access to affordable rent between households with older adults and other households is greatest in King County (60%), followed by Kitsap (48%), Pierce (42%), and Snohomish (37%).
Source(s): U.S. Census Bureau, 2008-2012, 2013-2017, 2018-2022 American Community Survey 5-Year Public Use Microdata Sample
Insights & Analysis
- The difference in regional access to affordable rent between renter households with lower income and other renter households decreased 12 percentage points because the number of affordable tracts for other renter households decreased by 28.
- The disparity in access to affordable rent between those with and without a disability decreased over time for most counties, with the greatest difference in Snohomish (41%), followed by Kitsap (33%) and King (14%). The disparity in Pierce grew by 5%.
- The regional share of affordable tracts for renter households with limited English proficiency decreased 86% between 2012 and 2022, a 2.2x larger decrease than for English proficient renter households (-39%).
- The disparity in access to affordable rent between households with limited English proficiency and English proficient households decreased in Snohomish (40 percentage points), followed by King (23 percentage points), and Pierce (18 percentage points), while the disparity greatly increased in Kitsap.
- Snohomish is the only county where access to affordable rent for households with older adults stayed the same over time, compared to the other counties, where access decreased over time: Pierce (17 percentage points), King (6 percentage points), and Kitsap (4 percentage points).