Housing Wage Data

What does the Table Show me?

This table breaks down a specific county Area Median Income (AMI) by the number of persons in the household (1^st Column- 1-6 persons) and some of the typical AMI percentages used to calculate housing affordability across the top (50% to 150% of AMI).  

Each grey column has two calculations per household size.  The top one represents 30% of the Gross Adjusted Income maximum for that particular sized families’ income.  30% is the industry wide affordability factor used to determine that a family is paying a reasonable monthly amount for their housing.  The number directly below that calculation is the minimum wage that would be required to support that families’ income.  This minimum wage calculation can be helpful to businesses that want to better understand the housing challenges their current and prospective employees face.

Certain incomes across the table have been colorized.  The orange represents subsidized rentals because the rents are set at or below the HUD Fair Market Rents.  These are the family incomes that would be eligible for projects developed with Low Income Housing Tax Credits, Section 8 rent subsidy or similar financing programs that use HUD data for housing eligibility.

The gold colored incomes are those that would typically qualify for modest, market rate duplexes.  Those rents would range between $1,320 for a two bedroom to $1,475 for a three bedroom.  Again, the 30 % housing affordability assumption is used here.

At the bottom of the sheet are two typical new construction homeownership scenarios.  One is for a 95% loan for a home that costs $300,000 while the other is for an 80% loan.  This requires approximate annual incomes between $80,760 for the 95% loan and $66,160 for the 80% loan.  Naturally, the 80% loan requires more owner equity.  The incomes that qualify for homeownership under the 80% loan to value scenario has been colorized green in the table.

How do I use it?

When looking at the colorized table in its entirety, the non-colorized area (if any) between the orange (subsidized) incomes and the yellow (market rate duplex) incomes represents a void for most counties. This void depicts where families are over income for subsidized housing but whose incomes are not high enough to qualify for market rate duplexes. This void also becomes a barrier that slows the potential for families to move toward housing independence through homeownership. This burdens the local community because housing markets are a continuum of housing options rather than stand-alone community investments. Furthermore, the ability for businesses to grow and hire more workers is severely limited. Any financial resources that can be targeted toward this void will have an immediate and long lasting impact for the communities, local businesses as well as the families themselves.

Disclaimer:

The accuracy of this table is not warranted.  It has been created to provide a general comparison of affordability and the cost relationships between subsidized rentals, market rate duplexes and homeownership.

Affordable, quality and accessible housing is a critical component to growing the Kansas economy and improving the quality of life in our state.

The Department of Commerce is working with the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation, USDA-Rural Development and Federal Home Loan Bank to ensure the state has enough good quality and affordable housing for all Kansans.