KNOWLEDGE
WORTH HAVING

Affordable housing is housing, whether rented or owned, for which the household pays no more than 30% of their gross income for housing costs (rent/mortgage), including utilities.

The area median income (AMI) is the midpoint of a geographical area's income distribution, meaning half of households in that area have an income that is more than the area median income and half have an income that is less.

Affordable housing trust funds are distinct funds established by city, county, or state governments which receive ongoing dedicated public funds to support the preservation and production of affordable housing to increase opportunities for families and individuals to access safe, healthy and sustainable affordable housing.

A household is "cost-burdened when they pay more than 30% of their household income for housing (rent or mortgage and utilities).

A household is "severely cost-burdened" when they pay 50% or more of their household income for housing (rent or mortgage and utilities) alone.

Within the city of Cincinnati we are short approximately 28,000 homes affordable to households with incomes at or below 30% of the Hamilton County area median income (AMI) or roughly minimum wage. In addition, thousands of households are currently living in affordable housing (rental and ownership) which is threatened with eventual closure because of disrepair or gentrification.

While about 41.2% of people in Cincinnati are Black: - Approximately 74% of people in shelters are Black. - Approximately 85% of people in shelters for families with children are Black. 62% of Black Households in Cincinnati cannot afford 96% of the new housing city council gave tax abatements to in 2020. At the median annual income of Black People ($27,580) in Cincinnati you can afford 8 of the 667 new homes city council gave tax abatements to in 2020. According to the Census Bureau, half of Black and Hispanic households reported having at least one of the following four problems: 1) cost burden, 2) lack of complete plumbing, 3) lack of complete kitchen, 4) overcrowding. In 2017 more than 54% of the 27,725 Cincinnati households who reported being severely cost-burdened because they were spending more than half of their income for housing alone, were Black.

Over the last 6 years, at least 559 people have died young in our community because of homelessness. Their approximate average age was less than 51, or 25 years less than the average life expectancy in our city.

The affordable housing shortage is so dire that on an average day, most families with children who seek shelter are turned away because there simply is not enough room to accommodate everyone losing their homes.

The city’s current involvement in housing development results in housing that most people struggling to get or keep a roof over their head cannot afford.

Thousands and thousands of Cincinnati children are growing up without a consistent home, often afraid of being evicted, displaced, thrown out again. Approximately 20% of children in Cincinnati Public Schools experience homelessness each year.