Insight Region Briefing: Unequal Burden

Compared to other large metro areas, Northern Virginia and the broader DC area have one of the lowest rates of “severe housing burden”—spending over half of one’s household income on rent/mortgage, taxes, fees, and basic utilities—in the country. Yet while the majority of residents can afford the region’s steep housing costs, low-income households cannot; Northern Virginia had the highest rate of severe housing burden among households earning less than 200% of federal poverty (under $50,000 for a family of four) and the sixth highest rate among those at 200-400% of federal poverty ($50,000 to 100,000 for a family of four). This condition not only harms the individuals and families who experience it; it is also a social and economic problem that concentrates disadvantage in our most vulnerable and marginalized populations and impedes our ability to grow a more inclusive, sustainable, and equitable region.

Join us for a discussion of these data, who it affects and how we can come together around solutions, as we unveil, Unequal Burden: Low-Income Northern Virginians face the country’s most severe housing cost burden, the first in a series of Insight Region^TM briefs that will examine economic opportunity throughout Northern Virginia.