These data come from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey. They are based on averages of data collected in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. These estimates cannot be used to say what is going on in any particular year in the period, only what the average value is over the full period. The Census Bureau's American Factfinder provides 3-year estimates for counties with at least 20,000 people, and 1-year estimates for counties with at least 65,000 people. We use 5-year estimates because they are available for all counties and allow comparison to other counties within the region.
Affordable housing shows the percent of households paying 30% or more of household income in housing costs including households with or without mortgages and occupied rental units. Housing is considered affordable if it expends 30% or less of household gross income. In general, when households spend 30% or more of their income on housing there is not ample income to cover basic needs or financial setbacks.
In Washington in 2010-2014. . .
- of the 2,565,452 total occupied households, 38.2 percent spent 30% or more of their income on housing costs;
- of the 1,167,504 occupied households which held a mortgage, 38.4 percent spent 30% or more of their income on housing costs;
- of the 470,639 occupied households which had no mortgage, 13.7 percent spent 30% or more of their income on housing costs;
- and of the 931,054 rental households, 50.6 percent spent 30% or more of their income on housing costs.