Key findings
- A renter household needs to earn nearly five times the local minimum wage in order to afford average asking rents in Santa Clara County.
- Inflation-adjusted median rents in Santa Clara County increased 10% from 2000 to 2014, while inflation adjusted median renter household income declined 4%.
- Santa Clara County needs 67,576 additional affordable rental homes to meet the needs of its extremely lowincome (ELI) and very low-income (VLI) renters.
- The majority of Santa Clara County’s very low-income renters spend more than 50% of income on rent, leaving little left for food, transportation, health expenses, and other needs.
- When housing and other costs of living are considered, Santa Clara County’s poverty rate rises from 11.9% to 17.1%, or nearly one in five people.
- Overcrowding for low-income renters in Santa Clara County is 132% higher than the national average, contributing significantly to poor health and academic achievement among low-income children.
- Reductions in federal and state funds and elimination of redevelopment have reduced Santa Clara County’s affordable housing funding by more than $130 million since 2008, a 83% reduction.