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A look at housing and transportation costs as percentage of income

04/06/2010 9:25 AM by

A nice companion piece to this photo, the Housing + Transportation Affordabilty Index delineates areas where residents spend a high proportion of their income on housing or housing&transportation.

The maps above and below show Housing Costs – % Income (left) and Housing and Transportation Costs – % Income (right). The blue on the left show areas where housing costs represent 30% or more of family income. The blue on the right indicates areas where the cost of housing as well as the cost of transportation associated with the location of the home is 45% or more of family income.

From the H+T Affordability Index site:

Housing Costs factored as a percent of income has widely been utilized as a measure of affordability. Traditionally, a home is considered affordable when the costs consume no more than 30% of household income.

H+T has been developed as a more complete measure of affordability beyond the standard method of assessing only Housing Costs. By taking into account both the cost of housing as well as the cost of transportation associated with the location of the home, H+T provides a more complete understanding of affordability. Dividing these costs by Representative Regional Incomes illustrates the Cost Burden placed on a Typical Household by H+T expenses. While housing alone is traditionally deemed affordable when consuming no more than 30% of income, CNT has defined an affordable range for H+T as the combined costs consuming no more than 45% of income.


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