Housing & Race by Location Affordability
Presentation Time: Wed, 08/03/2022 - 15:30
Keywords: Washington, Housing Affordability, Race, Price-to-Income Ratio, Race and Housing Affordability
This Master’s Report focuses on how price-to-income ratio and race by location affordability affect housing in Washington State. There are two levels of analysis. First, a price-to-income ratio using an affordability index was created to show areas of affordable to non-affordable housing. Price-to-income ratio calculates the median home value divided by the median household income resulting in a level of affordability ratio. The State of Washington has an affordability ratio of 5.6 and the ten highest ratios were in the following counties: San Juan (9.2), Whatcom (6.7), Chelan (6.6), Jefferson (6.5), Whitman (6.4), Skamania (6.4), King (6.3), Skagit (6.2), Kittitas (6.1), and Douglas (5.9). County to block group level shows King County tends to have the highest and most frequent affordability ratio score in Washington State. Cities/suburbs areas tend to have a higher price-to-income compared to the small town/rural areas. Second, race was added to a second affordability index. Race was compared to the median home values represented through dot density and bivariate symbology to visually show race by location affordability. In terms of affordability by race index, majority of the State of Washington’s White and Hispanic/Latino population can afford a house. Regarding affordability by race, White being the majority outlier compared to Hispanic/Latino, Black, Asian, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and other races able to afford housing. The goal of this project is to bring further insight on where to focus efforts in providing equitable housing opportunities for racial disparities.
