Extremely Low-Income Renters Continue to Face Housing Gap

These households face a shortage of nearly 7 million affordable and available rental homes nationwide, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

By Christine Serlin

Less than four rental homes are affordable and available for every 10 extremely low-income renter households—those with incomes at or below the poverty level or 30% of the area median income (AMI)—nationwide, with no state or major metro area having an adequate rental housing supply for the poorest renters, according to a new report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC).

The shortage of affordable housing has resulted in 70% of extremely low-income renter households being severely housing cost-burdened—spending more than 50% of their income on housing costs. These households then struggle to afford other essentials, such as food, transportation, child care, and health care.