Out of Reach

2023

Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress and its Center for Housing Solutions & Community Initiatives have analyzed rental housing and wage data for more than a decade. Our reports on housing trends help lawmakers, nonprofit agencies, developers, and other stakeholders in their efforts to provide housing that is affordable in the region.

Our annual Out of Reach (OOR) report examines the affordability of rental housing throughout the nine counties we serve: Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester. This report is largely based on data published annually by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), which compares fair-market rents (FMR) with average renter wages.

This year’s report continues to underscore an irrefutable truth: even with long work hours or multiple jobs, most renters in our region struggle to pay for rent and modest living costs. Over the past five years, rents across our region have increased by anywhere between 25-45%. With inflation hitting a 40-year peak in 2022, the basic costs of living – food, transportation, healthcare, and more – are also out of reach.