For the past several years, rising rental costs have drastically outpaced household income nationwide, and that run-up in rents has weakened the value of a key form of housing assistance. Across all U.S. metros in 2021, 19 million households met the criteria for Housing Choice Voucher eligibility, but only 2 million vouchers were available, Zillow reports.
The need for more vouchers was already a concern pre-pandemic as funding limits left large portions of qualifying households without rental assistance, and in a housing boom that sent rental costs significantly higher, voucher values fell even further behind.
Since the start of the pandemic the nation’s typical rent – as measured by the Zillow Observed Rental Index (ZORI) – has increased by 26%, whereas average earnings have risen by 16% during that same period. This deviation between rent and income growth has caused more renter households to become rent burdened, exacerbating the need for housing assistance for many households.
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