Why Does San Mateo County Have a Housing Shortage?

Sustainable San Mateo County’s new Indicators Report includes 30 proven solutions for expanding affordable and equitable housing, as well as a thorough analysis of the housing shortage in San Mateo County and how we got here. It gives high marks to the state and county for making affordable housing a priority and offers case studies and tips on how some local leaders are moving the needle.

Read the Executive Summary
Access the full report
Hear what experts said at the Indicators Launch event

Among the report's surprising findings

• Between 2010 and 2019, nearly 11 times more jobs were created than housing units. Sustainable San Mateo County determined that 330 developments currently under consideration in the county would create more than four times more jobs than housing units in the pipeline.
• In order to afford an average two-bedroom housing unit in San Mateo County, renters need to earn about $51 per hour, more than three times the county’s minimum wage, which is $15.62 per hour.
• A large segment of the population cannot qualify for affordable housing because they don’t earn enough money. There are very few spots available for people earning 30 percent of the Area Median Income (below $38,400 for a household of one, below $54,800 for a household of four), who are designated as extremely low income.
• Many extremely low-income people in the county are one medical crisis or paycheck away from homelessness. It’s important to help them stay housed. If just 6 percent of the extremely low-income individuals in the county lose their homes, the county’s homeless population will nearly double.

For more information, go to tinyurl.com/2021SSMCIR.