The North Carolina Housing Coalition, an NLIHC state partner, developed a housing insecurity mapping tool in conjunction with the NC State University Geospatial Information Science and Technology Program. The tool scores each county in North Carolina by its level of housing insecurity on a scale from moderate to severe.
The mapping tool provides a housing insecurity score for each county determined by:
- How many families struggle to afford their rent?
- How many families face an eviction filing each year?
- How many families struggle to afford their mortgage?
- How many families face a foreclosure each year?
The map shows the epicenter of housing insecurity in North Carolina is in Nash and Edgecombe Counties, driven in large part by their particularly high eviction filings as a percentage of cost-burdened renters. The number of eviction filings in Edgecombe County is 81% of the number of cost-burdened renters, while in Nash County it is 77%. The next highest is Wilson County at 48%.
In addition to overall housing insecurity, the tool provides county-level details like the number cost-burdened renters and the average wages compared to wages needed to afford a modest two-bedroom home.
"Digging into the data has not only helped advocates better articulate the housing need to policy makers, but has also targeted our work at the local level,” said Samuel Gunter, the North Carolina Housing Coalition director of policy and advocacy. “The scale of the crisis is overwhelming and compels all of us to act with more urgency to implement robust eviction intervention and diversion programs."
Explore the mapping tool at: https://bit.ly/2wRvhin
To find out more about the North Carolina Housing Coalition, contact Samuel Gunter at [email protected] or 919-827-4496.