Housing's Share of Income

More Sierra Residents Living in Unaffordable Housing

Why is it important?

Housing is considered unaffordable if it consumes thirty percent of household income. At the very least, income obligated toward housing costs is financial capital that could otherwise be distributed to local businesses through purchases of goods and services. This is a generally accepted standard used by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.2

How are we doing?

More Sierra homeowners in 2000 than ten years prior were living in housing considered unaffordable for them. While this was also true in California's urban areas and the problem in the Sierra is not as severe as in the state overall, it has disproportionately worsened in the Sierra Nevada. The situation is better in the North Sierra where 24 percent of homeowners and in the East Sierra where 26 percent of homeowners live in unaffordable housing. The situation is worse in the South Central Sierra where 28 percent and in the North Sierra where 30 percent of homeowners live in unaffordable housing.

Overall, the problem of unaffordable housing is worse for renters, but improved between 1990 and 2000 in the North and North Central Sierra. In 2000, 38 percent of renters in the East Sierra and 40 percent in the North Sierra live in unaffordable housing. The situation was slightly worse in the North Central and South Central Sierra where 43 and 44 percent of renters, respectively, live in unaffordable housing.

2 Crowley, Sheila. Testimony to the United States House of Representatives, Committee on Financial Services, Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity. May 2001. http://www.nlihc.org/news/53testimony.htm

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