By Megan Sayles
AFRO Staff Writer
msayles@afro.com
Many communities in Baltimore are severely burdened by housing costs and still, local housing organizations say, costs like rents continue to climb.
“We have seen rents in the region increase by over 20 percent over the last five years,” said Adria Crutchfield, executive director for the Baltimore Regional Housing Partnership (BRHP). “The standard measure used for affordability is that housing costs no more than 30 percent of income, but average incomes in the city are below what would be required for most rents to be considered affordable for the average person.”
When a person spends 30 percent or more of their monthly income on rent, they are considered burdened by housing costs. When they spend 50 percent or more, they are considered severely-burdened.
Across Baltimore, the U.S. Census Bureau reports that the median income for households in 2023 was $59,623, or $4,938 per month, while the median monthly rent payment is about $1,600, according to Zillow. This represents 32 percent of a household’s income. But, in many predominantly Black neighborhoods, incomes are lower due to longstanding disinvestment, educational disparities and historic redlining and more systemic factors.
For example, in neighborhoods like Greater Rosemont and Oliver/Johnston Square, where
more than 90 percent of the community is African American, the median incomes are $35,167 and $37,710 respectively. This means Greater Rosemont residents spend nearly 55 percent on rent, while those in Oliver/Johnston Square spend 51 percent on rent.
BRHP administers the city’s Housing Mobility Program, a voucher program that currently delivers rental assistance and counseling services to 4,300 low-income families. The organization receives funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
“Rental assistance, primarily funded by HUD, helps many deserving families afford a roof over their heads,” said Crutchfield. “But, this is not just an income issue, it’s also a supply issue.”
According to Dan Emmanuel, research manager at the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), the supply is even more sparse for affordable rentals, which families with low and extremely low incomes rely on.
“In Maryland, there are only 32 affordable and available units for every 100 extremely low income households,” said Emmanuel.
Data from the NLIHC finds that of the 127,515 renter households in Baltimore, 47,850 are extremely low income, earning at or below the area median income or the federal poverty line. Seventy-nine percent of them are cost-burdened, while 65 percent are severely cost-burdened.
The researcher believes some of the factors that have contributed to shortage include high construction costs, restrictive zoning laws and lengthy, unpredictable approval processes for new developments. He noted that there has been a relative softening in the rental market recently but costs still remain out of reach for many.
Even without barriers, he said the market would still be unable to produce rentals that are affordable to households who earn the least. It simply costs too much to build and maintain new housing at a rate that is commensurate with people’s incomes. Emmanuel said this means there is a need for public assistance.
“You really can’t sustain housing over the long term on rents that are affordable to people with the lowest income levels. The market just doesn’t produce an adequate supply of units, and it’s essentially out of the question to produce new units that are affordable to these households because the debt service would be too high,” said Emmanuel. “You need a subsidy to do that.”
His organization will be working to expand rental assistance and the Housing Trust Fund and grow and preserve public housing to help address the high rents burdening families in Baltimore and across the nation.
“We definitely have very clear solutions for dealing with the problem,” said Emmanuel. “We just lack the political will.”
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