Facts & Figures - Tacoma's Affordable Housing Blog
The City of Tacoma is in an affordable housing crisis. Our community lacks affordable, high-quality homes for all its residents--renters and homeowners alike. Too many households are struggling to make ends meet with rising rents, rising interest rates, increased inflation, and lingering impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with relatively stagnant wages.
Many residents can feel the impact of the affordable housing crisis individually on their own bank account, but people want to know: What is the "Big Picture" when it comes to the housing crunch in Tacoma, and what is the City doing to help solve the problem?
Our Facts & Figures Blog will give you a glimpse into significant trends, statistics and comparisons, and the dollars-and-cents of some of the issues we face in the Tacoma housing market. You'll get insights and images that illuminate some of the biggest challenges and illustrate potential solutions to our affordable housing shortage in Tacoma.
July 2024 - updated 7/26/2024
How many hours must you work to afford Tacoma housing?
Even with one of the highest minimum wages in the nation, Tacoma workers earning a $16.28 minimum wage need to essentially work two full-time jobs just to afford housing on their own.
The average price for rental housing in Tacoma is $1,675 per month*, so even a Tacoma worker earning the average wage of roughly $26 an hour** must work about 10 hours per day, five days a week to keep housing costs below 30% of their total income.
When workers earning roughly $55,000 a year struggle with housing costs, it's no wonder an estimated 40% of all households in Tacoma are either housing cost burdened or extremely housing cost burdened.
*Source: Zillow Observed Rent Index - average price across all sizes, types in 2023
**Source: www.Ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/-in-Tacoma,WA - average Tacoma job wage for July 2024
With some of the highest housing costs in the nation, it's not surprising that a recent study done by Wallethub listed Tacoma as one of the least "renter-friendly" cities in America (see below). More affordable housing stock is needed to bring Tacoma workers some cost-of-living relief.
July 2024
Affordable housing trends in the news
A new study conducted by Wallethub compared more than 180 rental markets in the country to and identified which cities were the most renter-friendly and which ones weren’t. The study listed four Washington state cities. One was ranked among the worst cities for renters: Tacoma.
Read more: Tacoma ranked among the least renter-friendly cities in U.S. | Tacoma News Tribune (thenewstribune.com)
July 2024
Affordable housing trends in the news
A new list of the nation's most expensive places for assisted living features 17 Washington cities.
Read more: Washington cities rank among the most expensive for senior housing | Puget Sound Business Journal
July 2024
Housing development trends in the news
The dramatic and lasting shift to remote work since the start of the pandemic has prompted politicians and the public across the country to ask whether half-empty office towers could instead become much-needed housing. But conversions are pricey and technically difficult, leading lawmakers in Seattle and elsewhere to consider tax breaks and other sweeteners they hope could entice developers to these types of projects.
Read more: Seattle courts conversion-minded developers to make offices into homes | The Seattle Times
July 2024
Homelessness and housing trends in the news
Nearly $6 million in eviction-prevention assistance has been requested in Pierce County since the beginning of 2024, according to a report from the Human Services Department. More than 1,470 households applied for eviction-prevention assistance, according to a report given to the Pierce County Council’s Select Committee on Homelessness on July 10.
June 2024
Local housing trends in the news
The Tacoma News Tribune reports on recent land deals that will eventually add a total of roughly 250 housing parcels to the Tehaleh community near Bonney Lake—some single-family houses, some duplexes.
Read more: 91 parcels set for development by two builders at Tehaleh | Tacoma News Tribune (thenewstribune.com)
May 2024
Affordable housing trends in the news
A news story from USA Today ranks more than 300 cities and metro areas in the U.S. as the best and worst cities for renting. The article references a study by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies that shows a record 22.4 million U.S. renters are spending more than 30% of their income on rent and utility costs. Data from Zillow shows that average rent prices across the U.S. have increase more than 37% in just the past five years.
Read more: What Are the Best Cities for Renters? (usatoday.com)
For a PNW perspective on the data: OR, WA housing: Here's where the PNW ranks among best cities for renters (koin.com)
May 2024
Do Tacoma jobs pay enough to afford housing?
An increasing number of adults are living alone, which means an increasing number of people are struggling to pay for adequate housing on their own, especially young adults and seniors. But the struggle is not limited to young adults and seniors—even mid-career adults struggle to pay for housing on their own.
Shown below, roughly 77% of the jobs in Tacoma do not pay enough for the worker to be able to comfortably afford their housing on their own.
While these figures are for wages for a single worker paying for housing on their own, even households with two or more incomes still struggle with skyrocketing housing costs in the South Sound. An estimated 40% of households in Tacoma are housing cost burdened or extremely housing cost burdened, and that is a mix of single adults, married and partnered couples, families, multi-generational households, roommates and housemates, and other household types where people are combining incomes and sharing housing to try and reduce their housing cost burden.
May 2024
May 6-10 is Affordable Housing Week in Pierce County
The Tacoma City Council has proclaimed May 6-10 Affordable Housing Week in Tacoma in conjunction with other jurisdictions and the Affordable Housing Consortium of Tacoma-Pierce County.
Join the Consortium and other affordable housing champions at more than a dozen in-person and virtual events on an array of topics related to affordable housing. Many events are open to the public.
More event information: Affordable Housing Week | Affordable Housing Consortium of Tacoma-Pierce County
April 2024
Affordable housing trends in the news
A news story from The Tacoma News Tribune points to Tacoma's red-hot rental housing market.
"The City of Destiny ranked as the No. 1 most desirable rental destination in the West for March, according to a new report by the apartment-search website RentCafe.com. It also did well on the national scale, securing the No. 6 spot in the country... Tacoma saw a significant spike last month in page views on RentCafe.com: 196%, the report shows. At the same time, open Tacoma listings fell 20%, suggesting that tenants are acting fast to snag available apartments."
Read more: Tacoma named No. 1 most sought-after renting destination in West, report shows
April 2024
Affordable housing trends in the news
A news story from NPR on the housing market mismatch in America where Baby Boomers feel stuck holding on to their three- and four-bedroom homes, leaving young families out in the cold.
"Lots of older Americans say they'd love to downsize, but it doesn't make financial sense. The housing roadblock has left some would-be buyers stuck. We asked experts what policies could change that."
Read more: Baby boomers own big houses and it's affecting the housing crunch - NPR
April 2024
Affordable Housing Action Strategy - 2023 numbers
The 2023 statistics for the Affordable Housing Action Plan are now available!
If you need assistance to access the statistical information displayed in the above graphic images, please contact the City's 311 Customer Support Center.
April 2024
State legislation on affordable housing
The Washington State Department of Commerce has a fact sheet summarizing all the state-level legislation on housing that has been implemented between 2019 and 2023. This includes 2023’s HB 1110, which amended RCW 36.70A to require that certain cities allow middle housing—homes that fall between detached single-family houses and large multifamily complexes, such as duplexes or town homes.
Explore more at Housing laws of 2019 - 2023.pdf
April 2024
Affordable housing trends in the news
A news story from Vox on the emerging trend of Americans turning (or re-turning) to multi-generational housing, with a lack of affordable housing being one of the key drivers.
“According to the Pew Research Center, a quarter of all adults ages 25 to 34 now live in a multigenerational living situation (which it defines as a household with two or more adult generations). It’s a number that’s been creeping upward since the early ‘70s but has swung up precipitously in the last 15 years. The decennial US Census measures multigenerational living slightly differently (three or more generations living together), but the trend still checks out. From 2010 to 2020, there was a nearly 18 percent increase in the number of multigenerational households.
Read more:
Multigenerational housing is coming back in a big way - Vox
Contact Information
Linda Robson, Media & Communications Office
LRobson@cityoftacoma.org
(253) 219-7083