What does this indicator measure?
This indicator measures the proportion of household income spent on housing costs, calculated separately for renters and homeowners. For renters, housing costs are defined as gross rent, or rent plus basic utilities (electricity, gas, water, and sewage). For homeowners, housing costs include mortgage payments, property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, condo fees, and basic utilities. The data come from the U.S. Census Bureau. The baseline data are provided by the decennial census, as part of the long form statistical sample. The census long form collects data from one out of every six households and calculates an estimate for the entire population based on that sample. The census data provide estimates for each of the counties included in Dallas Indicators.
Updates are provided by the American Communities Survey (ACS). This new sampling program of the Census Bureau will replace the long form in Census 2010. It is updated every year, although at present only Dallas, Denton, and Collin Counties are included in the update. By 2010 the ACS will include annual updates for every county in the Dallas Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA).
The data are reported in two formats: the distribution of the percentage of income spent on housing costs for each county, and the proportion of households in each county spending 30% or more of their household income on housing costs. It is important to note that in calculating this proportion, only households for which the Census Bureau computed a housing costs percentage are used. The not computed category includes households paying no cash rent (e.g., those whose home is owned by family or friends not requiring a rent payment) and those households who did not report any income for the survey year.
Why is this indicator important?
This indicator helps to quantify the concept of
affordable housing. Families that spend too large a proportion of their income on housing often find themselves without sufficient funds for other necessities such as food, health care, transportation, child care, and clothing. The generally accepted rule of thumb is that housing expenses should constitute no more than 30% of household income. Some subsidized housing programs require participants to contribute 30% of their income as rent. However, many mortgage lenders have recently relaxed their underwriting standards and have granted loans that, combined with mortgage insurance, taxes, and homeowner’s insurance, constitute 40% of household income or more.
The term affordable housing is often thought of as referring to housing for the poor. However, its true definition is housing that people can afford. By examining the percentage of households spending more than the recommended amount of 30% of household income on housing and by looking at the distribution of housing expenses in general, we can better assess the degree to which our residents are struggling to afford the homes in which they live.
How are we doing?
In 2004, the American Communities Survey data showed similar trends among Dallas, Denton, and Collin County for housing cost burden.
- Dallas County had the highest proportion of renter households (37.01%) spending more than 35% of income on gross rent; however, Dallas and Denton Counties had very similar proportions of renter households spending more than 30% of income on gross rent (47.19% and 47.90%, respectively).
- Among homeowners with a mortgage, Denton County had the highest proportion of households spending less than 20% of income in housing costs. Dallas County had the highest proportion spending more than 35% of income in housing costs.
- Among homeowners without a mortgage, Collin County had the highest proportion of households (43.31%) spending less than 10% of income on housing costs. Denton County had the highest proportion of households (12.12%) spending more than 35% of income on housing costs.
- In all counties, the proportion of renters spending more than 30% of income on housing costs was significantly greater than the proportion of homeowners spending more than 30% of income on housing costs.
See also data for
Renter households
Homeowners with a Mortgage
Homeowners without a Mortgage
Census 2000 data provides the following information for the counties included in Dallas Indicators:
- In the year 2000, the proportion of homeowners spending more than 30% of household income on housing costs was fairly stable across the counties, ranging from 17% to 21%.
- Dallas County had the highest proportion of homeowners spending more than 30% of household income on housing, at 20.80%. Hunt County had the lowest proportion at 17.35%.
- The proportion of renters spending more than 30% of household income on rent varied considerably, from 29.33% in Rockwall County to 37.91% in Denton County.
- In all counties, the most common housing cost expenditure level among homeowners was less than 15% of household income.
- In all counties—with the exception of Ellis County—the most common housing cost expenditure level among renters was more than 35% of household income.
- In Ellis County, 22.5% of renting households spent 35% or more of household income on housing costs, whereas 23.8% of renting households spent 15% or less of household income on housing costs.
See also data for
Dallas County
Collin County
Denton County
Percentage of households paying more than 30% of income for housing costs |
| 2000 | 2004 | 2005 |
Renters | Homeowners | Renters | Homeowners | Renters | Homeowners |
City of Dallas | 36.8% | 21.8% | 44.1% | 26.5% | 45.7% | 28.3% |
Dallas County | 34.7% | 22.4% | 45.3% | 30.1% | 48.1% | 34.3% |
Denton County | 33.7% | 20.6% | 33.6% | 8.0% | 47.7% | 32.9% |
Collin County | 36.3% | 18.9% | 44.5% | 11.4% | 43.9% | 27.8% |
Texas | 29.3% | 19.0% | 37.7% | 27.0% | 41.3% | 26.8% |
USA | 44.1% | 18.6% | 42.0% | 24.0% | 45.3% | 26.0% |
Source: American Communities Survey 2004, http://factfinder.census.gov