CORRESPONDENCE - WS-1 OPPOSITION

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26 While affordability has improved somewhat, the share of renter households with cost burdens remains well above levels in 2001. Although picking up since 2011, renter incomes still lag far behind the 15 -year rise in rents. Renters of all types and in all markets face affordability challenges, although lower- income households are especially hard- pressed to find units they can afford. Indeed, high housing costs have eroded the recent income gains among these households, leaving many renters with even less money to pay for other basic needs. RENTER INCOMES AND HOUSING COSTS Despite some recent improvement, the rental housing affordability gap remains wide. Median monthly rental costs were up 15 percent in real terms in 2000-2016, increasing from $850 to a high of $980. At the same time, median renter household income fell sharply between 2000 and 2011, from $38,000 to $32,000, before gradually recovering to $37,300 in 2016. Part of this rebound, however, reflects the growing presence of higher -income households in the rental market rather than income gains alone. Even so, growth in renter incomes across all income quartiles has outpaced the rise in housing costs since 2011, modestly narrowing the affordability gap. The median monthly income for renters in the bottom quartile increased 10 percent in real terms from $1,000 in 2011 to $1,100 in 2016, while their monthly housing costs rose 3 percent from $740 to $760. By comparison, the median monthly income for renter households in the top quartile grew 9 percent over this period, to $11,300, but their housing costs jumped 6 percent, from $1,600 to $1,700. With this pickup in income growth, the number of cost -burdened renter households (paying more than 30 percent of income for hous- ing, including utilities) receded from a high of 21.3 million in 2014 to 20.8 million in 2016. The number of severely cost -burdened renters (paying more than 50 percent of income for housing) also edged down from 11.4 million to 11.0 million. The declines in the number of cost - burdened households between 2015 and 2016 coincide with the larg- est increase in median renter income since 2000. While down sightly since its 2011 peak, the share of cost -burdened renter households remains high (Figure 26). After increasing from 39 percent in 2000 to 51 percent in 2011, the share of cost -burdened households dipped to 47 percent in 2016. The share of severely cost -burdened renters also fell from 28 percent in 2011 to 25 per- cent. Again, these small improvements reflect not only a drop in the number of cost -burdened renters but also rapid growth in the number of renters with higher incomes—the group least likely to be cost burdened. In fact, the number of renters earning at least $75,000 rose by 40 percent between 2011 and 2016, to 9.1 million, the fastest growth in renter households in any income group.