In 2016, 34.8 percent of households in the Tucson MSA paid more than 30 percent of their income in housing costs. That ranked Tucson ninth among the 12 peer western metropolitan areas tracked. In Tucson, income levels play a significant role in determining the percentage of households that are cost burdened. For example, 15.2 percent of households that earned less than $20,000 were housing cost burdened while the rate fell to 1.1 percent for households with income over $75,000. At the low-income level, Tucson exceeded the national rate by 2.7 percentage points. However, at the high-income level the national rate was more than double the Tucson rate. Cost burdened households are more likely to struggle with paying for other basic needs such as healthcare, childcare, transportation, and even food. To learn more visit the Housing Cost Burden indicator on the MAP Dashboard.
