There is no way around it. Housing stability is a pivotal matter that indicates the level of relational connectedness in a community. It speaks to a community’s ability to rally around principles of justice and fairness. The ability to balance the forces of profit maximization and ensuring reasonable access to basic needs. Housing stability, and the lack thereof, is also very visible. We see the many tents and carts adjacent to interstates and major roadways. We’re becoming more and more aware of how vulnerable low-income community members are to eviction and shady landlords who do little to nothing to upkeep their rental properties.

The ‘Benchmark Your Metro’ service grants greater visibility of how your metropolitan community stands up with the metro areas that have closely matching baseline housing stability profiles. These metros share both population and socioeconomic characteristics. Once peer metros are rigorously identified, they can be benchmarked against one another and data-rooted strengths and weaknesses can be noted and understood.

Ringing the Alarm

It’s one thing to look at statistics in isolation and make a judgment about how your community is doing, but it is something entirely different to conduct a data-rooted side-by-side comparison and see where your metro falls short. So far, it has been rare to see a metro area sit at the bottom of every housing stability category, but there have been instances where ringing the alarm is merited for how a metro performs in a particular category.

Cost Burdens in Rochester Benchmarking Results: Points Scored: 0 Bottom Metrics: All three in Cost-burdened Households (CB) Means/Medians: 1.9% above mean in CB / 1.9% above median 1.1% above mean in severely CB / 1.1% above median 2.5% above mean in Black CB / 3.2% above median

Source: US Census Bureau. 2024. "American Community Survey, 1-Year Estimates."

Renting in Pensacola Benchmarking Results: Points Scored: 0 Bottom Metrics: All three in Rental Affordability (RA) Means/Medians: 12.6% below mean in RA / 13.5% below median 8.0% below mean in Black RA / 9.3% below median 22.0% below mean in AMI-RA / 37.9% below median

Source: US Census Bureau. 2024. "American Community Survey, 1-Year Estimates."

Homeownership in Dallas Benchmarking Results: Points Scored: 2 Bottom Metrics: Homeownership Rate; Black Homeownership Equity Means/Medians: $10,896 below mean in Home-buying Affordability Gap/ $4,375 above median in HBA Gap 4.4% below mean in Homeownership Rate (HomeOwn)/ 3.8% below median in HomeOwn 7.5% below mean in Black HomeOwn Equity/ 6.3% below median in Black HomeOwn Eqt.

Source: US Census Bureau. 2024. "American Community Survey, 1-Year Estimates."

Surely, there are ongoing conversations about cost-burdened households in Rochester, rental affordability in Pensacola, and homeownership in Dallas, but these benchmarking results add concrete to these conversations. The data speaks clearly, providing housing advocates with more solid grounding for the interventions they are placing on the table.

Documenting the Wins

Similar to how it’s been rare for a metro to be at the bottom of every housing stability category, the same goes for top performers. Metros high on the scale have tended to excel in only one category. Still, it is important to document the ways in which your community wins on housing stability. 

Homeownership in Greenville Benchmarking Results: Points Scored: 11 Top Metrics: Black Homeownership Equity Means/Medians: $14,552 above mean in Home-buying Affordabilty Gap/ $15,083 above median in HBA Gap 2.7% above mean in Homeownership Rate (HomeOwn)/ 1.5% above mean in HomeOwn 5.8% above mean in Black HomeOwn Equity/ 4.7% above median in Black HomeOwn Eqt.

Source: US Census Bureau. 2024. "American Community Survey, 1-Year Estimates."

Renting in Dayton Benchmarking Results: Points Scored: 13 Top Metrics: Gen. Rental Affordability (RA); AMI-Based RA Means/Medians: 5.3% above mean in RA / 5.8% above median 0.4% above mean in Black RA / 0.6% above median 5.7% above mean in AMI-RA / 4.7% above median

Source: US Census Bureau. 2024. "American Community Survey, 1-Year Estimates."

Cost Burdens in Detroit Benchmarking Results: Points Scored: 15 Top Metrics: All three in Cost-burdened Households (CB) Means/Medians: 6.1% below mean in CB / 5.1% below median 2.9% below mean in severely CB / 1.4% below median 2.9% below mean in Black CB / 1.9% below median

Source: US Census Bureau. 2024. "American Community Survey, 1-Year Estimates."

Housing professionals and community leaders in Greenville, Dayton, and Detroit have opportunities to make note of their housing stability strengths and initiate conversations on how these strengths are contributing to community wellbeing. It also opens the door to conversations about how these strengths can be further leveraged. 

Benchmarking your Metro offers you a straightforward opportunity to see your community with clarity and allow the data to be the narrator, whether it leads to ringing alarms or documenting wins. Sign up to learn more and qualify for the full service experience.