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Improve Housing Affordability

As measured by the percentage of households who spend more than 30% of their income for housing

Why Is This Important?
Metric Definition

Data presented is the percentage of households that earned < $75,000 in the past 12 months and spent >= 30% of their household income on housing costs. Monthly housing costs include mortgages; real estate taxes; fire, hazard, and flood insurance on the property; utilities, and fuels. 

Data source: U.S. Census Bureau - American Community Survey

Analysis

Housing affordability for households earning less than $75,000 per year has remained fairly consistent from 2015 to 2019. In 2019, about 43% of households earning less than $75,000 spent 30% or more on housing costs. 

Current Status
The Neighborhood & Housing Development Division recently announced that it will award up to $1 million in total gap funding for new construction, acquisition, rehabilitation, or preservation of affordable rental housing with a focus on access to supportive services and sustainability such as walkability to jobs, groceries, transportation, and more. The primary goal of this program is to increase the inventory and availability of affordable housing to the residents of Oakland County. The key focus is in expanding such developments into geographical areas (Cities, Villages, Townships) that currently have low availability of affordable rental housing. Oakland County has used more than $5.3 million federal COVID relief money to help residents with emergency funding to prevent evictions and foreclosures and to meet basic needs, including utility bills. Two million dollars of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds have also been appropriated to create a legal assistance program with the goal to support residents facing evictions and foreclosures with another $315,000 to create the Unlocking Doors Oakland program to support landlords who rent to individuals with Housing Choice Vouchers.
Learn More

For more information on the programs and services offered by Oakland County, please visit the Neighborhood & Housing Development Office


Oakland County, Michigan | 1200 N. Telegraph Road | Pontiac, MI 48341 | 248-858-1000​