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

Policy Barriers Hurt Low Income Families' Economic Well-Being

Prosperity Now’s 2018 Scorecard ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia on residents’ financial well-being. Their report, Whose Bad Choices? How Policy Precludes Prosperity and What We Can Do About It, dispels the myth that low income families are poor as a result of their own choices. The…

Non-Working HUD-Assisted Households May Face Employment Barriers

A report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Employment and Earnings for Households Receiving Federal Rental Assistance, shows that 89% of HUD-assisted households are seniors or disabled, attached to the labor force, or likely required to participate in work-related programs under…