Summit County Housing Network     |     home

Akron Streetcard   |   Community Calendar   |   Links to other websites   |   HOUSING Community Calendar   |   Need Help?   |   Housing Facts for Summit County   |   Other Home Repair Programs

Housing Facts for Summit County

 "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all human beings, irrespective of race, color, or sex are born with the equal right to share at the table of life."  Emma Goldman, 1909

                     _________________________________________

Local facts about public housing:

Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority (AMHA)  provides Housing Assistance Payments to 3,725 households throughout Summit County.

Over 1,200 property owners are involved with AMHA's program.

175 Section 8 families are participating in the Family Self-Sufficiency program, which provides the opportunity for the family to build a savings in an escrow account as they achieve negotiated goals related to financial self-sufficiency.

The Department began issuing new vouchers to applicants on the waiting list in May 2003.  This was the first activity from the waiting list in 18 months as the utilization rate exceeded 100%.

AMHA's Section 8 Department is one of the oldest in the nation, dating back to mid-1970's when the program first began.

(facts from the AMHA Summer 2003 newsletter, "housing works!.")

Slightly more than half of all of Ohio’s housing stock is over 40 years old.

More than one out of five Ohio households experience some type of housing need such as a house lacking a bathroom, kitchen or electricity, it is overcrowded, and the cost burden of paying for the housing is high. (If a family is paying more than 30% of their monthly income on housing, they are under a housing cost burden.)

Persons who comprise the homeless population are veterans-15% of the homeless are veterans;  26% are employed in full or part-time jobs, but cannot afford rent, and 56% of the homeless are children.  

On average low-income households pay 51% of their income on their housing.  The cost of their housing keeps them poor.  

To afford a two-bedroom apartment in Akron a  worker must earn $11.42 per hour.  If they are paid at the minimum wage that worker must work at least 89 hours per week to pay for the two bedroom apt..  

For the state of Ohio as a whole a minimum wage worker on average must work 78 hours a week to pay for a two bedroom apt.

Homelessness and education

Homeless children change schools an average of  7-8 times each year due to homelessness and usually end up 2-3 years behind their grade level.  

The U. S. Conference of Mayors determined in 2000 that there was a 17% increase in homeless shelter requests by families.  

Other statistics: average wait for public housing is 16 months

          average wait for section 8 housing is 23 months

          average wait for section 8 vouchers is 29 months

          23% of requests for shelters go unmet

          27% of families requests for shelter go unmet

Summit County

Homeownership rate     70.2%            

Households               217, 788          

Median Household Income     $38,774          

Persons below poverty     10.9%     

Housing Units authorized     2,836

Land area               413 sq. miles     

Persons per sq. mile          1,314.5

State of Ohio

Homeownership rate     69.1%

Households               4,445,773

Median Household Income     $36,029

Persons below poverty     11%

Housing Units authorized     55,880

Land area               40,948 sq. miles

Persons per sq. mile          277.3

Year structure built               

     1950-1959          41,694

     1940-1949          26,132

     1939 or earlier     52,770

Lacking complete plumbing          683

Lacking complete kitchen          1,214

Year householder moved into unit

1959 or earlier               24,568

Housing Units With a mortgage

Less than $300               3,242

$300-$499                    19,427

$500-$699                    23,578

$700-$999                    19,227

$1,000-$1,499               8,618

$1,500-$1,999               2,194

$2,000 or more               1,283

Housing cost burden of 30% or less of person’s income          106,205

Housing cost burden greater than 30% of person’s income     17,768

Gross RENT as a percent of household income

     29% or less                         34,495

     30% or more                         23,999

Median family income          $54,100

     Family of four at 35% median income= $19,469 (very low income)

     Family of four at 50% median income= $27,800 (low income)

     Family of four at 80% median income= $48,250 (moderate income)

43% of all U.S. households and 62% or all renters have income below 80% of their area median income.

According to the Ohio Consolidated Plan the single most important factor contributing to homelessness in Ohio is the lack of low-cost housing.

Who needs affordable housing?

     Police officers, fire fighters, teachers, nurses aides, single parent households, recent college graduates, your sister, your grandparents, your neighbor, YOU!  We all need affordable housing.  Affordable housing is housing that costs no more than 30% of your income.

Entry level salary for a teacher in Summit County is  $ 34,552 (moderate income).  If they are supporting a family of four they are below 80% of area median income.

Entry level salary for a police officer in Summit County  $ 28,276 (nearly low income).  If they are supporting a family of four they are near 50% of area median income.

Entry level salary for a fire fighter in Summit County  $ 25,191 (low income).

If they are supporting a family of four they are below 50% of area median income.     

Senior citizens and the disabled living on Social Security and disability benefits ONLY are in the 30-35% of area median income range.

Child care workers, food service and preparation workers, home health aides, some clerical workers, shippers and packers, parking lot attendants all earn an hourly rate placing them in the low income range.

Housing must be available for the CEO of industry, but also the CEO’s secretary, shop foreman, custodian, and landscaper.  For all of these people contribute to the success of the industry, and the growth of the community.

(Facts compiled from the U.S. Census Bureau 7/31/01, "Out of Reach" report, and local and State Consolidated Plans)

Definitions: Households, Family (Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census)

A household includes all the persons who occupy a housing unit.

A housing unit is a house, an apartment, a mobile home, a group of rooms, or a single room that is occupied (or if vacant, is intended for occupancy) as separate living quarters.

Separate living quarters are those in which the occupants live and eat separately from any other persons in the building and which have direct access from the outside of the building or through a common hall. The occupants may be a single family, one person living alone, two or more families living together, or any other group of related or unrelated persons who share living arrangements.

Family Type--A family consists of a householder and one or more other persons living in the same household who are related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption. All persons in a household who are related to the householder are regarded as members of his or her family. A household can contain only one family for purposes of census tabulations. Not all households contain families since a household may comprise a group of unrelated persons or one person living alone.

Families are classified by type as either a "married-couple family" or "other family" according to the sex of the householder and the presence of relatives. The data on family type are based on answers to questions on sex and relationship which were asked on a 100-percent basis.

                            ================================