Boulder Affordable Housing: Higher Median Incomes Mean Rent Spike

BOULDER, CO – A spike in median incomes as calculated by federal and state agencies between 2017 and 2018 has Boulder affordable housing rents going up. Because median income rates are up more than 10 percent, Boulder agencies and landlords who charge up to 30 percent of median incomes are expected to raise rents, the Daily Camera reported.

Using census data, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recorded the Boulder County median income up to $76,100 for a single person, up 10.6 percent from last year's median of $68,800. Colorado Housing and Financing rules mandate that landlords can charge no more than $1,251 per month for a one-bedroom for people earning 60 percent of the county's median income. That means a potential rent increase of 9 percent from last year, the Camera reported.

That's the highest single-year jump since at least 1990, Kurt Firnhaber, Boulder's deputy director of housing. landlords and tenants are used to about a 3 percent rise, the paper reported.

Ruy Arango, a resident at Boulder's Depot Square said his rent would increase by $84, or 7 percent in September. "We're the working poor. It's just going to be more hardship for us," Arango told the Camera.

Affordable rent and income limits

Boulder County 2018 area median income (AMI):
1 person: $76,100
2 people: $86,900
60% AMI:
1 person: $46,740
2 people: $53,400
Maximum rents for 60% AMI:
1BR: $1,251
2BR: $1,501
3BR: $1,734
50% AMI:
1 person: $38,950
2 people: $44,500
Max rents, 50% AMI:
1BR: $1,043
2BR: $1,251
3BR: $1,445
Sources: HUD, CHFA

Read the reporting in the Daily Camera here.

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