Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)

Citation: Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)
Jurisdiction: Arlington (municipal)
Source: Official source
Original Source: https://www.arlingtonma.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/57214/637641171662530000 ↗

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Rental Housing
The median rental listing in Arlington is $1,593.10 This rent would be affordable to the median Arlington
household, regardless of race. However, Arlington’s median rent is not affordable to the median Black or Latino
households within the comparison region. These populations may have greater difficulty moving into Arlington
than White households from the same communities. Table 2 shows the staggering difference in incomes of Black
and Latino households in Arlington versus the comparison region, as well as the gap between a rent the typical
household in each racial/ethnic group can afford and the median rent in Arlington. The typical Black and Latino
households in the comparison region would need approximately $600 in additional monthly income to afford the
typical Arlington apartment. By contrast, the typical White and Asian households would not need additional
income to afford the median asking rent in Arlington. In essence, the comparison region’s typical White and Asian
household can access Arlington’s rental housing, while the typical Black and Latino households cannot.

Table 2: Median Household Income by Race, Affordable Rent, and Rental Gap

Arlington Comparison Region
Race / Median Affordable Rental Median Affordable Rental
ethnicity Household Rent 12 Affordability Household Rent Affordability
Income11 Gap13 Income Gap
Black $102,660 $2,470 $880 $43,060 $980 -$610
Latino $106,548 $2,560 $970 $43,882 $1,000 -$590
Asian $124,750 $3,020 $1,430 $78,332 $1,860 $270
White $100,495 $2,410 $820 $96,672 $2,320 $730

10 MAPC Rental Listing Database, 2017
11 ACS 2013-2017
12 Affordable rent is based on a household spending 30% of its income on total housing costs including utilities, minus $100 monthly for