In the Bay Area, Households Making $117,00 Are Now Considered Low Income
In California’s notoriously pricey San Francisco Bay Area, households earning around $117,000 a year are now considered “low income,” according to a new definition of income limits released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
For a household of four people living in the counties of San Francisco, San Mateo, or Marin, the department’s recently released definition of low income limits is now set at $117,400--the highest in the nation. The median family income in the area is $118,400.
The HUD also now considers households of four earning $44,000 to be “extremely low income,” while households of four earning $73,300 are considered “very low income.” A one-person household is now considered to be low income if it earns $82,200.
Compared to the department’s 2017 income limits report, the 2018 low income limit is a more than $10,000 increase.
The department’s income limits are used as a threshold for determining which households may qualify for affordable and/or subsidized housing through programs such as Section 8.
Between 2010 and 2016--the same time period during which the city began to experience another tech boom as startup after startup found itself valued in the billions--housing prices in San Francisco skyrocketed, climbing by more than 70%.
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