What does this measure?

The proportion of household income that goes toward monthly rent, utilities, and fuel, calculated by dividing median rent by median household income for renters.

Why is this important?

This figure indicates how affordable housing is for renters. The federal Housing and Urban Development Department guideline for affordability is that rent should consume no more than 30% of household income.

How is Orange County performing?

Orange County renters spent 37% of their income on rent in 2012-16, lower than Ulster (39%), but greater than the statewide (excluding NYC) (24%), national (32%) and Dutchess (34%) figures. The rate rose steadily from 27% in 2000 to 35% in 2007-11 and by an additional 2 points from 2007-11 to 2012-16.

The localities with the highest percentage of income spent on rent in 2012-16 were in Newburgh (51%), Monroe (53%), and Kiryas Joel (61%), while the localities with the most affordable rent were Highlands (22%), Florida (20%) and Woodbury (18%).

Notes about the data

Multiyear figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined three years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. However, because the information came from a survey, the samples responding to the survey were not always large enough to produce reliable results, especially in small geographic areas. CGR has noted on data tables the estimates with relatively large margins of error. Estimates with three asterisks have the largest margins, plus or minus 50% or more of the estimate. Two asterisks mean plus or minus 35%-50%, and one asterisk means plus or minus 20%-35%. For all estimates, the confidence level is 90%, meaning there is 90% probability the true value (if the whole population were surveyed) would be within the margin of error (or confidence interval). The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census. Figures used in calculations are in 2016 dollars. Regional rates were calculated by weighting county medians based on share of population. Data for this indicator are expected to be released in the fourth quarter.