Housing Cost Burden in Massachusetts

Massachusetts

Households are considered cost-burdened when housing costs such as rent or mortgage payments comprise more than 30% of household income. High rent burdens can strain household budgets and cause individuals to fall behind on bills or debt payments. Cost-burdened households may have difficulty affording other basic necessities such as health care, food, utilities and transportation to work or school.

Families that struggle to afford housing may face eviction, foreclosure and homelessness. Research has found that the stress of living in unaffordable housing is associated with higher rates of depression, anxiety, hypertension, arthritis and overall worse self-rated health.

Between 2017 and 2022, the median rent for newly-leased units in the United States increased nearly 32%.

According to America’s Health Rankings analysis, the prevalence of housing cost burden is higher among: 

• Those ages 15-24 compared with other age groups. Adults ages 35-64 have the lowest prevalence of housing cost burden. 
• Those with an annual household income less than $20,000 compared with those who have higher incomes. The prevalence decreases with each increase in income level. 
• Renters compared with homeowners. Renters also historically have lower incomes than homeowners.

Additional research has found that housing cost burden is also higher among:

• Women than men. 
• Black renters compared with those of other racial/ethnic groups.

Rental assistance and income support programs are essential for promoting equitable housing opportunities. Increasing the existing housing supply by building more homes can also help slow the growth of housing costs, benefiting households of all incomes. 

County Health Rankings & Roadmaps has identified strategies for improving access to and affordability of housing at the community and federal levels. Government programs that provide rental vouchers, subsidized housing or utility assistance can help cost-burdened individuals afford safe and healthy housing:

• Through the Section 221(D)(4) program, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development insures lenders against loss on mortgage loans to encourage the construction or rehabilitation of rental and cooperative housing for moderate-income families. 
• The Department of Agriculture's Housing Repair Program and the Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) can help low-income homeowners repair and improve the safety of their homes. Households that utilize WAP services can save more than $372 annually. 
• Through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the Administration for Communities and Families provides grants to assist financially-burdened households with utility costs.
• The Department of Housing and Urban Development offers financial assistance to older adults, low-income families and disabled people through housing choice vouchers, which offset rental costs and are not limited to subsidized housing. Vouchers can also help develop more affordable rental housing.
• The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, however, is the main source of government support for building affordable housing, investing approximately $10.5 billion a year in projects that create housing for low-income households.

Healthy People 2030 has a goal to reduce the proportion of families that spend more than 30% of their income on housing.

Bailey, Peggy. Addressing the Affordable Housing Crisis Requires Expanding Rental Assistance and Adding Housing Units. Report. Washington, D.C.: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, October 27, 2022. https://www.cbpp.org/research/housing/addressing-the-affordable-housing-crisis-requires-expanding-rental-assistance-and.

Braveman, Paula, Mercedes Dekker, Susan Egerter, Tabashir Sadegh-Nobari, and Craig Pollack. Housing and Health. Exploring the Social Determinants of Health: Issue Brief #7. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America, May 2011. https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/research/2011/05/housing-and-health.html.

Gibson, Marcia, Mark Petticrew, Clare Bambra, Amanda J. Sowden, Kath E. Wright, and Margaret Whitehead. “Housing and Health Inequalities: A Synthesis of Systematic Reviews of Interventions Aimed at Different Pathways Linking Housing and Health.” Health & Place 17, no. 1 (January 2011): 175–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2010.09.011.

Gu, Kristine D., Katherine C. Faulkner, and Anne N. Thorndike. “Housing Instability and Cardiometabolic Health in the United States: A Narrative Review of the Literature.” BMC Public Health 23, no. 1 (May 23, 2023): 931. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15875-6.

Swope, Carolyn B., and Diana Hernández. “Housing as a Determinant of Health Equity: A Conceptual Model.” Social Science & Medicine 243 (December 2019): 112571.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112571.