of Bay Area residents spent more than 35% of their income on housing in 2023
of Bay Area renters spent more than 35% of their income on housing in 2023
of Bay Area homeowners spent less than 20% of their income on housing in 2023
Introduction
What portion of household income is spent on housing?
Housing costs in the Bay Area are higher than most other places in the country, though they vary dramatically within the region. At the same time, many of the Bay Area’s workers earn a higher income than those in similar jobs elsewhere. The relationship between household income and housing costs is an excellent gauge of regional affordability – one of the most critical issues facing the Bay Area.
Regional Performance
Many Bay Area households struggle with the cost of housing. Renters often bear the largest burden.
The share of Bay Area households excessively burdened by housing costs (paying more than 35% of their income on housing) has decreased since 2009, as the region emerged from the Great Recession into the economic expansion of the 2010s. Between 2010 and 2019, the share of cost-burdened renters decreased from 42% to 36%, while the share of cost-burdened homeowners decreased from 32% to 21%.
In the early 2020s amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the share of cost-burdened households has started to increase, reversing the trend from the 2010s. From 2020 to 2023, the share of cost-burdened renters increased by 2.3 percentage points, while for homeowners it increased by 1.3 percentage points.
of all Bay Area households spent more than 35% of their income on housing in 2009
of all Bay Area households spent more than 35% of their income on housing in 2023
Historical Trend for Housing Affordability
Regional Distribution
Low- and moderate-income households are heavily cost-burdened by the region’s housing market.
Most low-income households in the Bay Area spend too much on housing, no matter where they live. Even households with moderate incomes are struggling. In 2023, 59% of households earning $50,000 to $75,000 a year spent more than 35% of their income on housing. Similarly, 41% of households earning $75,000 to $100,000 faced the same issue. Housing only becomes more affordable for households earning over $100,000 a year. Only 9% of these households are considered cost-burdened, and 57% of them spend less than 20% of their income on housing.
of Bay Area households with income $50k to $75k spent more than 35% of their income on housing in 2023
of Bay Area households with income $100k or more spent more than 35% of their income on housing in 2023
Housing Affordability by Income Level (2023)
Local Focus
The proportion of households struggling with housing costs rose across all Bay Area counties during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in 2023, this proportion remained lower than it was at the peak of the Great Recession in 2009.
Between 2010 and 2019, the share of cost-burdened households declined in all Bay Area counties. These declines ranged from 4 to 11 percentage points, with Napa (-3.9%) and Santa Clara (-7.1%) counties seeing small improvements, and Sonoma (-10.6%) and San Francisco (-10.4%) seeing large improvements in affordability.
From 2019 to 2023 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the share of cost-burdened households increased in all counties in the region. For example, in Solano County the percentage of households that were cost burdened increased from 28% to 33% during this time period.
of households that are homeowners in Marin County are cost-burdened, the highest share in the region for owners based on 2023 data
of households that are renters in Solano County are cost-burdened, the highest share in the region for renters based on 2023 data
Share of Households Spending 35% of Income or More on Housing
Sources & Methodology
Different vintages American Community Survey (ACS) data tables report “housing costs as a share of household income” differently. For example, early ACS tables have a top bin of “35.0 percent or more,” while later tables have additional bins up to a top bin of “50.0 percent or more.” To allow for historical comparisons, we merge housing expenditure brackets into three consistent bins (less than 20 percent, 20 percent to 34 percent, and at least 35 percent) that work for all years.
The highest income bracket for renters in the ACS data was $100,000 or more, while the homeowner dataset included brackets for $100,000 to $149,999 and $150,000 and above. These brackets were merged together to allow for uniform comparison across tenure.
ACS 1-year data is used for larger geographies – Bay counties and most metropolitan area counties – while smaller geographies rely upon 5-year rolling average data due to their smaller sample sizes. Note that all 2020 data are 5-year estimates because the ACS did not report 1-year data for 2020.
Income breakdown data is only provided for one year as it is not possible to compare consistent inflation-adjusted income brackets over time given Census data limitations. For the county breakdown, Napa was missing ACS 1-year renter data for all years except 2012 and 2013, and Marin was missing ACS 1-year renter data for 2019, so these counties used 5-year data for those years.
U.S. Census Bureau: American Community Survey
Table B25074 (2009-2023)
Table B25095 (2009-2023)