Much of what is known about renters in the U.S. comes from national datasets like the American Housing Survey, Census Household Pulse Survey, and American Community Survey. While these resources provide considerable detail on topics like rental housing quality, rent costs, and renter demographics, they include only limited information on renters’ experiences and opinions. A reliable, nationally representative source of quantitative data on the common barriers that renters face to remaining safely and stably housed in their communities of choice would be an invaluable resource for informing advocacy efforts and identifying effective policy interventions.
NLIHC and its survey research partner ICF are addressing this information gap by conducting a nationally representative survey of renters. The primary goal of this survey is to supplement existing data sources by gathering new, actionable data to inform our advocacy on federal policies that affect renters. We will be directly engaging with renters throughout the planning, implementation, and dissemination processes to ensure our results accurately reflect the renters’ experiences and opinions.
Help for Survey Participants
Have you been contacted to participate in the National Renter Survey?
Please note that NLIHC and ICF are the only groups involved in the National Renter Survey. We will NEVER ask for your social security number, bank information, credit or debit card numbers, or passwords for your accounts.
If you need assistance with taking the survey, please contact the Help Desk at [email protected].
If you have questions about NLIHC or how we will use the information from this survey, please email Sarah Abdelhadi at [email protected].
About the Survey
NLIHC and other researchers will use the results of this survey to learn about the needs of renters across the country and shape understanding of how housing policies can best address those needs. The results of this survey will help lawmakers across the country to make informed decisions on housing policies that affect communities like yours. Keep in mind that any survey results shared with the public will be presented in group form and cannot be traced back to you.
If your household is invited to take the survey, it should be completed by the person in your household who is 18 years or older and knows the most about your housing needs. The survey should take about 15 minutes to complete online and possibly a little longer by phone. Participants who qualify and complete the survey will receive a $10 Amazon gift code.
Participation is not required, but it is very important because each person who answers the survey represents thousands of others. Not participating in the survey may mean that you and your community will not be represented in the results, and your needs will not be as visible to lawmakers who make important policies about rental housing. You may choose not to answer any question for any reason.
How to Confirm a Letter is from the National Renter Survey
Households invited to participate in the National Renter Survey may receive up to two letters in the mail. These letters will come in a regular-sized envelope printed with NLIHC’s logo. The return address is in the care of (“c/o”) ICF and the zip code is 24112.
One side of the letter will have information in English and the other side will have information in Spanish. Both sides of the letter will have the logos of ICF and NLIHC. The letter will explain the survey, invite you to participate, and provide step-by-step instructions for starting the survey.
How to Confirm a Phone Call is from the National Renter Survey
Calls asking you to participate in the survey will come from area code 202. The call will begin with an ICF interviewer introducing themselves and explaining the purpose of the survey. They will explain that your telephone number has been randomly selected for participation, and you will be offered a $10 Amazon gift code to complete the interview. They will tell you that the call may be monitored or recorded for quality control and then will ask a few questions to see if you are eligible for the survey.
How to Confirm an Email is from the National Renter Survey
Invitations to participate in the National Renter Survey will only come by mail, phone call, or text message. You will only receive email messages from ICF if you have submitted questions to the Help Desk at [email protected]. You will only receive emails from NLIHC about the survey if you have reached out to us directly first.
If you receive an email about the National Renter Survey, please check the “From” email address to make sure the domain of the email address is either “@nationalrentersurvey.com” or “@nlihc.org”. You can reach out to the Help Desk at [email protected] if you have any concerns about an email you have received related to the survey.
Participant Data Privacy Statement
The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) is the sponsor of the National Renter Survey. The purpose of this survey is to gather nationally representative information on the housing-related experiences and opinions of renters in the United States. This information will be used to make sure current and future housing policies – as well as the advocacy efforts of NLIHC and its federal, state, and local partners – are aligned with renters’ needs.
Below are more details on the type of information collected through the National Renter Survey, the ways NLIHC plans to use it, and how NLIHC plans to protect it.
Data Privacy and Planned Use
NLIHC will never share or publish any information that can be used to identify someone who participated in the National Renter Survey.
NLIHC plans to publish aggregated analyses and reports on the data collected through the National Renter Survey to share what we have learned about U.S. renters and their current housing needs. “Aggregated” means that any information we publish will look at renters as a group, and never at individual people who participated in the survey.
NLIHC also plans to make deidentified data from the National Renter Survey available for free upon request for researchers, journalists, advocates, and others to use. “Deidentified” means that the data provided will not include any information that can be used to figure out the identity of someone who participated in the National Renter Survey. This kind of information is often called “personally identifiable information”, or PII.
Personally Identifiable Information (PII) Collected in the National Renter Survey
National Renter Survey participants are asked to share their current zip code if they are comfortable doing so. Zip code is not PII by itself, but it could be used to identify someone when combined with some of the other demographic information gathered in the survey. For this reason, NLIHC will never share or publish zip code data collected in the National Renter Survey.
Some survey participants will be asked if they are comfortable sharing their current address with NLIHC. Any address information will only be used to connect important data points for analyzing housing trends in different geographic areas and in different types of housing. Just like with zip code data, NLIHC will never share or publish address data collected in the National Renter Survey. In addition, NLIHC will never use address data shared in the survey to contact participants.
Lastly, a small number of people who do not qualify for the National Renter Survey will be asked if they are comfortable sharing their email address and/or phone number with NLIHC so they can be contacted to participate in a future study. NLIHC will never share or publish email addresses or phone numbers. NLIHC will only use this information to invite consenting individuals to participate in a future study. NLIHC will delete this contact information from its records within one year of completing data collection for the National Renter Survey.
Storage and Protection of PII Data
The National Renter Survey PII data described above will be stored and accessed on a secure, password-protected hard drive kept in a locked office at NLIHC’s headquarters in Washington, DC. This hard drive can only be accessed by authorized NLIHC Research Team staff. Under no circumstances will these data be accessed outside of this hard drive, nor will they be printed, shared, or published.
Your Rights as a National Renter Survey Participant
If you are a participant in the National Renter Survey, you have the right to:
- Choose not to take the survey, or to stop the survey at any time
- Skip any questions on the survey that you do not feel comfortable answering
- Ask questions before you decide to participate in the survey or after you have submitted a response
- Request a copy of your responses to the National Renter Survey, or request that some or all of the information you shared in the survey be deleted
If you have questions about how to participate in the survey or encounter technical issues while trying to submit a response, please email [email protected].
If you have questions or concerns about the National Renter Survey or how the data will be used & protected, please contact NLIHC’s Research Team by emailing [email protected] or calling 771-209-4677 or 202-662-1530 ext. 256.
Updates to This Statement
Any changes to NLIHC’s National Renter Survey Data Privacy Statement will be published here and the “last updated” timestamp will be updated accordingly.
Last updated on June 9, 2025.
Survey Partners
Advisory Committee
NLIHC's survey is supported and informed by a committee of technical and subject matter experts from housing advocacy organizations, research groups, universities, and tenant groups:
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Technical Partner – ICF
In March 2024, NLIHC issued a request for proposals (RFP) seeking a research firm, consultant, or academic institution with the experience and expertise to collaborate with our research team on the technical components of our survey.
We decided to partner with ICF, an international consulting firm with considerable experience in survey and U.S.-based housing research. ICF is supporting our team with activities including, but not limited to:
- Determining the appropriate sample size, sample frame, and weighting strategy for the survey
- Validating and/or conducting cognitive testing on the survey instrument
- Administering the survey instrument to a nationally representative sample of renters
- Providing the final survey dataset(s) to NLIHC