Housing Affordability Crisis in Portland Oregon
An Equity Focus
Housing Affordability is a growing issue of concern in Portland, Oregon (NLIHC).
There exists a shortage of nearly 100,000 affordable units today in Portland. Additionally, 76% of low income households who have secured housing are cost burdened and at risk of losing housing. As the overall income level continues to rise in Portland, inequality grows between White people and people of color as well as between homeowners and renters (City of Portland, 2020). As a Portlander, it's important to understand the geographic trends in how this issue impacts fellow residents.
"While median income levels for renters and homeowners have grown since 2013, the median income for Portland homeowners of $92,205 per year is more than double that of renters, whose median income is almost $42,659 per year. Portland homeowners have surpassed income levels from before the 2007 recession."
Source: Metro, 2020; ACS 2020
The total population in Portland is 641,000. 75% of residents in Portland are White alone, 10% of residents are Hispanic, 8% are Asian, and 6% are African American. The median household income in Portland is $73,000 while the average rent cost is $1,325 (US Census Bureau, 2021).
There are many highly populated, dense neighborhoods in Portland. The highest population neighborhood in the city is Powellhurst-Gilbert with a population of 87,661. Other notably large neighborhoods include Forest Park, Lents and St Johns - all of which have over 40,000 population. Minority groups tend to reside in concentrated clusters in several of the highest populated neighborhoods in Portland - mostly towards the perimeter of the city.
This trend becomes clear when comparing where White people vs Minority people live in Portland on a map
Source: Metro, 2020; ACS 2020
Source: Metro, 2020; ACS 2020
Many of the most cost burdened neighborhoods in Portland are also where a majority of Portland's Non-White residents live.
The majority of renters in Portland are African American, Hispanic, Native American, or Pacific Islander (City of Portland, 2021). This means the quickly increasing rental prices, which increased by 4.5% between 2019 and 2020, impact minority groups much more than White people living in Portland, Oregon. In addition, the households in neighborhoods with higher concentrations of poverty are paying a significantly larger share of their income on housing indicating the issue is worst for those in the lowest income brackets in the Portland area.
This Divide is made clearer comparing the 10 neighborhoods with the highest percentage of minority residents to the 10 neighborhoods with the lowest percentage
In communities with the highest percentage of minority residents, the percentage of rent burdened households is noticeably higher. Additionally, it's clear that these neighborhoods have larger populations on average as well.
Source: Alexander Grey
Source: Alexander Grey
There are two primary causes for this issue
First, educational outcomes for people of color in Portland are significantly lower than for white individuals. This leads to large income disparities, and means people of color are forced to spend a greater share of their income on rent and mortgage payments than are white people.
Second, the supply of affordable housing, as mentioned before is well below the amount necessary to meet the current and projected demand.
Source: Metro, 2020; ACS 2020
Portland needs more affordable housing
There are 35 neighborhoods in Portland with zero affordable housing developments. Additionally, the places most in need of more affordable housing like Montavilla and Centennial only have a handful of affordable developments leaving many in need without an immediate solution. Portland should look to finance a considerable increase in funding for affordable development in the 10 high population, high cost burdened neighborhoods to decrease the immediate social costs associated with this issue
Portland needs to reduce racial inequities in access to and attainment of higher education to the extent possible
The education gap between white people and people of color has significant impacts on lifetime earnings. People with no bachelors degree earn $30,000 on average while people with a bachelors degree earn $65,000 on average (Tim Stobierski, 2020). In the long term, Portland should address these racial inequities in educational attainment in order to reduce the overall income gap which in turn would reduce the burden of rent for people of color as a absolute percent of income.
Source: Vasily Koloda
Source: Vasily Koloda
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