Priced Out in 2004:
The Escalating Housing Crisis Affecting People with Disabilities

By Ann O'Hara, Emily Cooper, and Jonathan Buttrick

Introduction

In 2004, the national average rent for a modest one-bedroom housing unit climbed to a record high of $676 – more than the entire monthly income of people with disabilities who rely on the federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program to pay for housing and other basic needs. Between 2002 and 2004, the cost of rental housing rose from 105.5 percent to 109.6 percent of monthly SSI payments – pricing people with disabilities completely out of the rental housing market.

These are two of the important findings included in Priced Out in 2004 – a new study of the extreme housing affordability problems of people with disabilities with the lowest incomes. Priced Out in 2004 is being published by the Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc. (TAC) and the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) Housing Task Force to focus public attention on the serious housing crisis that affects the lowest-income adults with disabilities – those who qualify for federal SSI payments.

SSI is the federal income maintenance program that provides a base of support for people with significant and long-term disabilities who have virtually no assets. Some states provide an additional SSI supplement for people with specific types of disabilities and/or people with disabilities residing in specific housing arrangements such as congregate living or structured residential settings.

Since Priced Out in 1998 was published six years ago, the housing affordability gap between SSI income and modest rents has grown at an astonishing rate. In 1998, it was impossible to imagine that rents for one-bedroom and studio units would increase 59 percent in a mere six years to a level higher than the entire monthly income of a person receiving SSI.

This issue of Opening Doors focuses on the key findings published in Priced Out in 2004, a biennial comparison of the amount of monthly SSI income received by people with disabilities living independently with modest rental housing costs represented by the Fair Market Rents (FMRs) published annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Priced Out in 2004 is also a call for an immediate, significant, and long overdue government response to this housing crisis.

A publication of the
Technical Assistance
Collaborative, Inc.
and the Consortium for
Citizens with Disabilities
(CCD) Housing
Task Force

door

What's Inside?

Major Findings in Priced Out in 2004

Percent of SSI Benefits Needed to Rent a One-Bedroom Housing Unit

Disturbing Trends in State Rent Levels

Highest-Cost Local Housing Market Areas

Rising Costs in Rural Housing Markets

SSI Compared to Median Income

Effect of SSI Supplements

SSI Cost-of-Living Increases Compared to Increases in Rents

SSI Compared to the NLIHC's Housing Wage

How to Use the Information in Priced Out in 2004

Priced Out in 2004 may be downloaded in its entirety at www.tacinc.org. A complimentary copy may be ordered from TAC using the order form on page 11, or by emailing a request to publications@tacinc.org.

Major Findings in Priced Out in 2004

The major findings from the Priced Out in 2004 study include the following:

• In 2004, as a national average, a person receiving SSI needed to pay 109.6 percent of their entire monthly income in order to rent a modest one-bedroom unit. From 2002 to 2004, the housing affordability gap for people with disabilities continued to grow alarmingly while federal housing officials repeatedly proposed re-directing essential rent subsidy funds to higher-income households.

• During the six years since Priced Out in 1998 was published the amount of monthly SSI income needed to rent a modest one-bedroom unit has risen an astonishing 59 percent – from 69 percent of SSI in 1998 to 109.6 percent of SSI in 2004.

• People with disabilities receiving SSI are also priced out of smaller studio/efficiency rental units. In 2004, the national average cost of these units rose to 96.1 percent of monthly SSI, an increase of 8 percent from 2002.

• People with disabilities who rely on SSI payments continue to be among the lowest-income citizens in the United States . In 2004, the national average income of a person with a disability receiving SSI fell to a new low of 18.4 percent of median income – down from 18.8 percent in 2002.

• Over the past six years, since the publication of Priced Out in 1998, the national average income of a one-person household receiving SSI disability payments dropped 25 percent relative to median income – from 24.4 percent of median income in 1998 to 18.4 percent in 2004.

Percent of SSI Benefits Needed to Rent a One-Bedroom Housing Unit

A state-by-state analysis of SSI benefits compared to one-bedroom housing costs provides compelling evidence that extreme housing affordability problems for people with disabilities exist in all 50 states even when an SSI supplement is provided. Table 1 below indicates that in 2004, the average rent for a one-bedroom unit was more than SSI income in 20 states and the District of Columbia – four more states than in 2002. The District of Columbia has the dubious honor of having the highest cost rental housing market for people receiving SSI with one-bedroom rents equal to 185 percent of monthly SSI payments. Even in the most affordable state – West Virginia – people receiving SSI had to spend 71 percent of their monthly income to rent a modest one-bedroom unit.

TABLE 1:

PERCENT OF SSI NEEDED TO RENT A ONE-BEDROOM HOUSING UNIT

State	% of SSI
Alabama	78.2%
Alaska	76.1%
Arizona	111.7%
Arkansas	74.8%
California	114.4%
Colorado	109.0%
Connecticut	102.5%
Delaware	114.4%
District of Columbia	185.3%
Florida	119.5%
Georgia	107.8%
Hawaii	156.2%
Idaho	77.4%
Illinois	123.4%
Indiana	88.7%
Iowa	78.5%
Kansas	83.9%
Kentucky	75.5%
Louisiana	86.0%
Maine	93.2%
Maryland	145.2%
Massachusetts	134.9%
Michigan	101.6%
Minnesota	99.1%
Mississippi	76.8%
Missouri	89.2%
Montana	76.2%
Nebraska	80.0%
Nevada	131.2%
New Hampshire	119.0%
New Jersey	151.4%
New Mexico	87.2%
New York	137.6%
North Carolina	97.0%
North Dakota	71.5%
Ohio	87.8%
Oklahoma	71.5%
Oregon	99.2%
Pennsylvania	98.4%
Rhode Island	117.5%
South Carolina	89.9%
South Dakota	71.3%
Tennessee	84.9%
Texas	102.7%
Utah	98.4%
Vermont	92.2%
Virginia	128.4%
Washington	103.9%
West Virginia	71.1%
Wisconsin	80.4%
Wyoming	75.1%
NATIONAL	109.6%

*States above 100% are listed in bold

In 2004, rents for studio/efficiency units in every state were also well above what was affordable to people receiving SSI. Table 2 below shows that a total of 13 states had average rents for studio/efficiency units that exceeded 100 percent of monthly SSI income, led again by the District of Columbia . In 22 states, average rents for studio/efficiency units were between 75 and 100 percent of SSI. Even in the least expensive state – North Dakota – a person with a disability would have needed to spend 61 percent of monthly SSI income to rent a modest studio/efficiency apartment.

TABLE 2:

PERCENT OF SSI NEEDED TO RENT AN EFFICIENCY HOUSING UNIT

State	% of SSI
Alabama	70.0%
Alaska	65.1%
Arizona	95.9%
Arkansas	67.4%
California	97.7%
Colorado	95.7%
Connecticut	84.6%
Delaware	106.9%
District of Columbia	162.2%
Florida	106.6%
Georgia	99.3%
Hawaii	134.0%
Idaho	68.7%
Illinois	106.7%
Indiana	78.0%
Iowa	68.6%
Kansas	74.3%
Kentucky	66.3%
Louisiana	78.4%
Maine	80.0%
Maryland	126.8%
Massachusetts	124.0%
Michigan	92.0%
Minnesota	85.1%
Mississippi	68.6%
Missouri	79.1%
Montana	66.0%
Nebraska	71.9%
Nevada	112.4%
New Hampshire	100.7%
New Jersey	135.4%
New Mexico	75.9%
New York	118.3%
North Carolina	86.2%
North Dakota	61.7%
Ohio	76.4%
Oklahoma	65.3%
Oregon	85.0%
Pennsylvania	86.2%
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Priced Out in 2004: The Escalating Housing Crisis Affecting People with Disabilities

Introduction

Major Findings in Priced Out in 2004

Percent of SSI Benefits Needed to Rent a One-Bedroom Housing Unit

Priced Out in 2004:
The Escalating Housing Crisis Affecting People with Disabilities