The Definition of Low-Income in the Bay Area

The definition of a low-income household in the San Francisco Bay Area is the highest in the nation, according to new details from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Households earning $117,400 are considered low income in the Bay Area, and the median family income is $118,400. This symbolizes a $10,000 increase in income limits year-over-year. Income limits reports are used by the department to set the threshold to qualify for affordable or subsidized housing in a given area, Fortune reports.

The HUD also now considers households of four earning $44,000 to be “extremely low income,” while households of four earning $73,300 are considered “very low income.” A one-person household is now considered to be low income if it earns $82,200. Between 2010 and 2016—the same time period during which the city began to experience another tech boom as startup after startup found itself valued in the billions—housing prices in San Francisco skyrocketed, climbing by more than 70 percent.

Read more