HUD Issues LIHTC Tenant Data Report

On March 25, HUD released the second annual report on residents of units financed by the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC). Congress mandated the collection and publication of this data when it passed the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) of 2008. The report provides information about the race, ethnicity, family composition, age, income, use of rental assistance, disability status, and monthly rent burden of tenants living in LIHTC sites as of the end of 2013.

According to the report, the median income of LIHTC tenants was $17,000. Approximately 48 percent of tenant households were extremely low income, earning 30 percent or less of area median income (AMI), and 34 percent of households were very low income, earning between 30 and 50 percent of AMI. More than half of Housing Credit tenants—55.6 percent—paid 30 percent or less of their income towards rent; 19.7 percent paid more than 30 percent but less than 40 percent, of their income for rent; and 9 percent paid more than 40 percent, but less than 50 percent, of their income for rent. Another 9.5 percent paid over 50 percent of their income for rent, and 3.1 percent of households reported $0 in income. Approximately 36 percent of households reported receiving some form of rental assistance.

Also, 22.9 percent of tenants identified their race as white, another 22.7 percent identified as black, 2.1 percent identified as Asian, 9.5 percent identified as Hispanic, and less than 1 percent identified as either American Indian/Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander. It’s important to note that 40.6 percent of tenants did not report their race or ethnicity. Under fair housing laws, tenants are not compelled to report their race or ethnicity.