The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes

One of the biggest barriers to economic stability for families in the United States struggling to make ends meet is the severe shortage of affordable rental homes. The housing crisis is most severe for extremely low-income renters, whose household incomes are at or below the poverty level or 30% of their area median income. Facing a shortage of more than 7.2 million affordable and available rental homes, extremely low-income households account for nearly 73% of the nation’s severely cost-burdened renters, who spend more than half of their income on housing.