NLIHC was founded on the principle that data-driven advocacy works. By conducting ongoing, rigorous, and timely research, we make clear the need to ensure housing for America’s lowest-income people.

Every year, we release our signature research publications: Out of Reach and The Gap. Out of Reach reports on the mismatch between what workers can afford and the market rents they must pay in every community in the United States. The Gap documents the gap between the number of renter households and rental units that are affordable and available to them, as well as housing cost burdens, by income groupings in every state and the largest 50 metropolitan areas.

Our research team also produces Congressional District Profiles, which empower policy advocates with specialized data from their own communities. We also produce specialized analyses of current issues, like emergency rental assistance, housing recovery after disasters, and the affordability gap.

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NLIHC’s The Gap 2024 Now Available in Spanish!

NLIHC has released The Gap: La Escasez de Viviendas Asequibles, a Spanish-language edition of our annual report on the shortage of homes affordable and available to the lowest-income renters. This…

Memo to Members and Partners Articles

Share of Multifamily Housing in Rural Areas Varies by Definition of ‘Rural

Source: A. Hermann & W. Airgood-Obrychi. (2024). In Search of Rural: How Varying Definitions Shape Housing Research. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. Retrieved from: https://bit.ly/3UIFEhQ Notes: USDA = United States Department of Agriculture. Office of Management and…

Housing Stock Lost Lower-Cost Rental Units over Past Decade

Source: Harvard JCHS tabulations of American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates Note: Includes both vacant and occupied rental units but excludes those with no cash rent. Contract rents exclude utility costs paid separately. Rents are adjusted for inflation using the CPI-U for All Items Less…