Affordable for whom? A look at the data behind the definitions
The term "affordable housing" gets tossed around a lot, especially during policy talks in Santa Fe.
If there's one thing almost everyone in the City Different can agree on, it's that Santa Fe is badly in need of more affordable housing — but affordable for whom?
"That question comes up all the time," said Johanna Nelson, the city's interim affordable housing director.
The term can refer to single-family homes with prices set in a range considered reasonable for purchase by middle-income workers, lower-rent or subsidized apartment units, or "transitional housing," which is usually a temporary first step into housing, with support and services, for someone who has experienced homelessness.
While people might have different ideas of what "affordable" means to them, organizations that receive housing-related funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development or the state government must follow guidelines for rent and sales prices that qualify as affordable and household income levels at which residents are eligible for support.
A long-standing HUD metric is that renters are considered cost-burdened if they pay more than 30% of their gross income on housing, a figure that has risen to include nearly half of all U.S. renters, according to recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The efficacy of the 30% rule has been called into question in recent years, but no other major metric has been created to replace it.
Under HUD's Section 8 subsidy program, a housing aid voucher generally will cover rental costs that exceed 30% of a household's income — for instance, a renter in a $1,200-a-month apartment earning $30,000 a year, or $2,500 a month, would pay $750, and the voucher would cover $450. The agency uses the "area median income" to determine which households qualify for aid.
As of May, the AMI for the area designated by the U.S. Census Bureau as the Santa Fe Metropolitan Statistical Area (the city and county) was $64,050 for one person.
Someone living in the city or county in fiscal year 2024 would have been considered "extremely low income," at 30% of the AMI, with a salary of $19,250 a year; "very low-income," at 50% of the AMI, with a salary of $32,050; and "low-income," at 80% of the AMI, with a salary of up $51,250.
Often, however, discussions on the city's affordable housing crisis are centered on a need for more workforce housing, also known as "attainable housing" — homes offered at prices considered affordable for purchase by someone on a midlevel salary, such as a teacher, police officer or nurse.
Santa Fe Homes Program data
According to the Brookings Institute, the term is typically geared toward housing that is affordable for people making about 80% to 120% of the AMI — or $51,250 to $76,850 for a Santa Fean.
Under the city's Santa Fe Homes Program — which requires builders to either include a certain number of affordably priced homes or rentals in new developments, or pay a fee that will go toward the city's affordable housing initiatives — a rental unit for someone making 50% of the AMI would have to be offered at $801 to be considered affordable, while a one-bedroom home would be affordable at $141,250.
A three-bedroom home for a family earning 50% of the AMI would be affordable at $181,500 under the city program.
Such prices are far below Santa Fe's market rates.
The median home price in the city in 2024 was $582,000, according to a research firm's recent analysis of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development data.
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