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.

Memo to Members and Partners Articles

NLIHC Releases Out of Reach 2018

NLIHC released Out of Reach: The High Cost of Housing 2018 on June 13. The report compares rents and wages nationally and in every state, country, and city in the U.S. Out of Reach 2018 shows that both average renter wages and prevailing minimum wages are insufficient to afford modest rental…

Fact of the Week: Low Wage Jobs Insufficient to Pay the Rent

Source: NLIHC, Out of Reach: The High Cost of Housing, 2018. Housing Wages are derived from HUD fair market rents. The hourly wages by percentile are from the Economic Policy Institute’s State of Working America Data Library. Adjusted to 2018 dollars. http://nlihc.org/oor 

Study Supports Use of Small Area Fair Market Rents

A study by Matthew Palm, “Scale in Housing Policy: A Case Study of the Potential of Small Area Fair Market Rents,” published in Cityscape investigates the effects of Small Area Fair Market Rents (FMRs) on the share of for-rent listings affordable for Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) holders in five…