HUD Publishes Data on 2021 LIHTC Tenant Characteristics

HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research recently published demographic data on tenants living in Low Income Housing Tax Credit units in 2021.

The context: Under the Housing Economic and Recovery Act (HERA) of 2008, all state agencies are required to submit demographic and economic data on LIHTC tenants to HUD. The submitted data includes information concerning race, ethnicity, family composition, age, income, use of rental assistance, disability status, and monthly rental payments of households residing in LIHTC sites.

For this report, HUD requested tenant data and property characteristics from the 65 agencies that conduct program compliance. HUD’s collection of LIHTC tenant data applies to all active LIHTC properties, including those in the extended-use period.

One level deeper: Data collection reports such as these are important as they can be used to advocate for policies that will strengthen and expand the LIHTC. The data can confirm that the LIHTC assists those it intends to serve, including the lowest income households. Here are some data points pulled from HUD’s tenant level 2021 dataset:

• The median annual income of households living in LIHTC sites in 2021 was $18,600;
• Approximately 52.2 percent of households had incomes at or below 30 percent of area median income (AMI); 15.6 percent were between 30.1 and 40 percent of AMI; 13.5 percent were between 40.1 and 50 percent of AMI; 8.8 percent were between 50.1 and 60 percent of AMI; and 10 percent had incomes above 60 percent of AMI.
• Most LIHTC tenants (59 percent) paid 30 percent or less of their income for rent; 26 percent were cost burdened, meaning they paid more than 30 percent but less than 50 percent of their income for rent; and 12.3 percent were severely cost burdened, meaning they paid more than 50 percent of their income for rent;
• 40.2 percent of LIHTC households reported receiving some degree of rental assistance in 2021;
• 34.2 percent of households receiving rental assistance reported the source of that assistance and, of those, 22.4 percent received HUD Project-Based Rental Assistance and 18.2 percent received Housing Choice Vouchers; 9 percent received HUD Project-Based Vouchers. Other sources of rental assistance included the Public Housing Operating Subsidy, HOME Tenant-Based Rental Assistance, HUD Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation, and USDA 521 Rental Assistance Program.