May 1, 2025
More extremely low-income residents in Humboldt County spend more than half of their income on housing than in any other county in California north of Sonoma, according to new statistics released by the California Housing Partnership.
85% of extremely low-income (ELI) households here are spending more than half of their income on housing. Though other counties in the “North State” area, as the CHP defines Butte, Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Nevada, Sierra, Plumas, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama and Trinity counties, also spend a disproportionate amount of money on housing costs, Humboldt’s ELI residents are the hardest-hit.
Butte County is second, with 82% of their ELI population paying more than half of their income on housing costs. Sierra County is last; only 43% of their ELI households spend that much.