There’s a new threshold for “low income” in San Francisco. Every year the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development releases “income limits.” This is the minimum income level required to qualify for some affordable housing programs.
Now, to be considered “low income” in San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties, a family of four can earn $117,400 a year and still qualify. If you just earn $73,000 a year, you are considered to have a “very low income.”
Statewide in California, “low income” limit for a family of four is $62,000 and “very low income” is $38,750.
Those figures in the San Francisco area are the highest in the country and continue to increase every year. The limits in some Bay Area cities increased by 10 percent in just the last year.
In May, the median home price in the Bay Area hit a record high at $935,000. The high cost of living accounts for what some are calling a “Bay Area exodus.” It is difficult to get hard data on this, but many reports indicate that residents are at lest thinking about leaving the area. Redfin, a real estate site, said that the Bay Area was at the top of regions for “outward migration” in the nation. It analyzes where people are beginning their search for homes.
“Jobs and housing are really the primary criteria driving people’s decisions,” Hans Johnson, a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California said. “It’s kind of a balancing act between the two. If jobs predominate, people are moving in. If housing predominates, you have less people moving in.”
What are your thoughts about the “low income” limit in the Bay Area being $117,400? How does that compare to your area? Do you think the San Francisco area is prime for an economic bust, or will the prices keep rising?
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