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The Income indicator (Percent of income devoted to housing and transportation) measures the percentage of income devoted to housing plus (+) transportation for the Regional Typical Household. The percentages data for this indicator were collected directly from the Housing and Transportation Costs (H+T) Index webpage at the census tract level. The H+T Index was last updated in 2017.
The Housing and Transportation (H+T) Affordability Index Tool was created by the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) to help planners, developers, and community leaders make intelligent, data-driven decisions. The tool provides a full measure of affordability by considering the cost of housing and transportation cost. The Housing and Transportation (H+T) Affordability Index Tool provides an all-inclusive understanding of the affordability of place. Dividing these costs by the representative income illustrates the cost burden of housing and transportation expenses placed on a typical household. While housing alone is usually affordable when consuming no more than 30% of income, the Housing and Transportation (H+T) Affordability Index Tool combines transportation costs; usually a household’s second-largest expense, to show that location-efficient places can be more livable and affordable.
Rationale:
As access to opportunity is highly correlated to income, affordable housing and transportation are a daily challenge for low-income individuals. Housing cost characterized by rent or mortgage with essential utilities is a burden for most low-income households. Transportation is a significant expense, and housing and transportation costs are subjects of choice for households. They are led to spend less on housing located far away from job centers, schools, shopping centers, and other amenities or spend a more significant percentage of their income on transportation or vice-versa.
Transportation costs, characterized by private vehicle ownership costs and public transport usage costs, are essential parameters that households must consider when choosing a neighborhood to live in. Caltrans believes that policies and investments should be linked to affordable housing and transportation accessibility policies and investments. It is commonly accepted that a house is affordable for households if they pay no more than thirty percent of their annual income on housing. Above that, it’s considered a cost burden for them, which leads to their inability to pay for other necessities such as food, medical expenses, transportation, and other expenses.
The Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) teamed up with institutions such as the Brookings Institution to create the Affordability Index Tool. It is a tool for measuring the true affordability of a housing choice. Its goal is to assist in developing the housing and transportation affordability index in metropolitan areas across the United States. Transportation costs are classified into three factors: auto ownership, auto use, and public transit use, and the model hypothesizes that each cost factor is a function of the local environment of that place and household income and size.
Data Source(s):Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) (2021). Housing and Transportation (H+T) Affordability Index. CSV