NLIHC Shares Advocacy Tools and Resources
New Jersey’s State Housing Profile includes the following key facts:
- 34% of all New Jersey households rent;
- 268,149 or 25% of NJ renter households are very low income;
- There is a 189,044 shortage of rental units in NJ that are affordable and available for extremely low income renters: and
- NJ’s state housing wage is $25.04 (the amount a renter household needs to earn per hour to afford a 2 bedroom unit at 2012 HUD Fair Market Rent.)
The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s (NLIHC) new State Housing Profiles are optimized for state-level advocacy work and feature data from the American Community Survey and the Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) dataset.
Each State Housing Profile includes:
- A colorful state map depicting the number of affordable and available units per 100 extremely low-income renter households in each county. Extremely low-income households are those with incomes at or below 30% of the area median income. This new feature allows advocates to hone in on the areas within the state that have the most urgent need for additional affordable housing; and
- Two new bar charts to illustrate affordable housing needs by income level. The first chart demonstrates the percentage of renters at different income levels spending over 30% or over 50% of their income on housing and utility costs. The second chart provides an estimate of the number of units affordable and available to every 100-renter household under specified income thresholds.
- A sidebar featuring key facts about the renter population in each state, including the percentage of renter households that are extremely low income and the absolute shortage of housing units affordable to extremely low income renters.
The State Housing Profiles complement the Congressional District Housing Profiles, which are available for each of New Jersey’s 13 Congressional districts.
The profiles make it easy for advocates to access timely data about their state, and to share key information with lawmakers. The profiles are designed to be a user-friendly tool to inform the public about the need for affordable housing and will be updated annually.
Click here to view New Jersey’s state profile.
Click here to view New Jersey’s congressional profiles.
