Neighborhood Affordability
Neighborhood Affordability encompasses maintaining affordable rent for residents and businesses, limiting cost increases and development projects that may displace residents. Transit-oriented Communities (TOCs) aim to co-locate housing, jobs, public amenities and social services near high quality public transit to promote neighborhood resilience and address specific community needs. TOCs focus on affordable rent for individuals, families and businesses as a key component to promote stable neighborhoods with lower residential turnover and a strong local economy.
Understand Your Datasets
Households spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs are considered housing cost-burdened. Households spending more than 50% of household income on housing costs are considered severely housing cost-burdened and would be at high risk for displacement, which refers to the movement of a community out of a neighborhood due to redevelopment or infrastructure projects, which can include public transit projects. Affordable public transit is a critical factor in ensuring low income communities can access employment, health care, education and other community and social services. Affordable housing preservation near public transit supports vulnerable populations—including low-income communities, BIPOC communities, young people, elderly people and people with disabilities—accessing these critical services. When evaluating the census datasets linked below, information on the project area’s housing characteristics (for example, homeowner/rental vacancies, density of housing, location of federal- and state-subsidized affordable rental properties) may provide insight into rent pressures and difficulty obtaining housing. Housing data should be applied and understood in combination with sociodemographic factors and rental prices to assess potential outcomes from transit projects. For more information about the relationship between public transit and gentrification, see Access to Public Transit. For more information about Metro’s programs that create more opportunities for Angelenos to live and work near transit, explore our Joint Development Program.
Example Datasets:
1. Housing Costs as a Percentage of Household Income (Table B25140): https://data.census.gov/table?q=B25140
Instructions: Filter for the appropriate area using the “Geographies” tab in the filter pane on the left side of the web page. Select all relevant geographies at the desired resolution. The highest resolution publicly available data are at the block group level. To find the percentage of households at a certain level of burden, divide that level (for example, over 30 Percent) by the Total for that type (for example, Rented) minus the Not Calculated number for the type. For example: (Rented Over 30 Percent) ÷ (Total Rented – Rented Not Calculated).
Data Considerations: US Census Bureau data from the American Community Survey. Tract and Block Group Data are updated annually in December of each year with a one-year lag. Current data (October 2024) cover the 2018 to 2022 period. Data include owned housing units with and without a mortgage and rented units.
2. Affordable Housing Map & Benefits Calculator: https://affordablehomes.calhousingpartnership.org/
Instructions: Open the online web map and locate your area of interest. The locations of affordable housing properties, including existing and under construction, are available. Information about affordable housing in web map includes number of homes, federal programs, tax credits and estimated social and economic benefits.
Data Considerations: Data are from the CA Housing Partnership’s Preservation Database, an inventory of federal- and statesubsidized affordable rental properties. Last updated October 2021. (See also: https://chpc.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Affordable-Housing-Map-Benefits-Calculator-Methodology_October-2021.pdf)
3. Selected Housing Characteristics (Table DP04): https://data.census.gov/table?q=DP04
Instructions: Filter for the appropriate area using the “Geographies” tab in the filter pane on the left side of the web page. Select all relevant geographies at the desired resolution. The highest resolution publicly available data are at the block group level. An estimate of the total number of occupied housing units is available, as well as the rental and homeowner vacancy rates, to inform where LA residents are located.
Data Considerations: US Census Bureau data from the American Community Survey. Tract and Block Group Data are updated annually in December of each year with a one year lag. Current data (October 2024) cover the 2018 to 2022 period. Data include total units, occupied units, vacant units, homeowner occupancy rate and rental vacancy rate.
Community Demographics Profiles Alignment
Low-Income Households
BIPOC Population
Equity Focus Communities
Median Income
Renter Households
Explore the Index of Indicators in Metro’s Community Demographics Profiles Dashboard here.
The information on this page is presented through a Neighborhood Affordability lens. For other perspectives on this subject, visit Small Business and Organizational Displacement, Employment Opportunities and Job Preservation, Transit Corridors, Commercial Corridor Vibrancy, Neighborhood Change.
Coordinate with Community Members
Preserving affordable housing near public transit supports vulnerable populations as transit expands. Designing for stable neighborhoods requires long-term considerations and planning to ensure that Metro’s services are resilient and accessible over time. Public transit can play a key role in low-income communities’ ability to access work, health care, education and child care.
Public transportation expansion and improvement can have different impacts on communities. Improved bus services can empower communities accessing critical services and opportunities. A new rail line can lead to increased pressures on rents and increase displacement risk for longtime residents. Preventing displacement and gentrification don’t have one-size-fits-all solutions and involves protecting residents and their access to transit and social services, producing affordable housing and preserving existing affordable housing stock. Rely on your project community to define what comprises a “stable neighborhood” (for example, low resident turnover or a strong local economy) and what affordable housing looks like to them. Identify project community priorities or concerns by engaging with CBOs and other key stakeholders through public meetings, open houses and workshops. Discern how Metro’s presence and your project development could contribute to meeting and/or supporting community needs and goals. Consider deploying a housing affordability survey or interview effort to better understand community members’ lived experiences and how the community sees the proposed project impacting neighborhood stability. Continue meeting regularly with internal and external stakeholders throughout project.
Questions about this page’s vocabulary terms? Go to the Know the Vocabulary page
Wondering about relevant policies? Go to the Review the Relevant Policies page
Looking for engagement techniques? Go to the Engage Stakeholders page
Related Equity Indicators
Transit Corridors
Investing in multi-modal transit corridors can simultaneously promote economic development and public transportation use.
Distance Traveled to Access High-Quality Transit
Suggested Baseline Indicator: Distances traveled to access high quality transit can be impacted by factors like service frequency, service reliability and safety.