美国最贫困人群正陷入严重的住房短缺困境。根据全国低收入住房联盟的数据，约1100万极低收入租户仅对应400万套经济适用房，导致无数人陷入无家可归或住房困难的境地1。极低收入的定义为年收入低于联邦贫困线1.6万美元或当地中位数30%，两者取高者1。
这一危机的根源在于联邦住房政策的错位。2024年低收入住房税收抵免计划融资的经济适用房中，仅12%面向极低收入人群，大多数反而针对收入达当地中位数50%以上的人群1。随着这些单位租金日益接近市场价格，空置现象随之加剧。多个城市都存在这一矛盾现象：奥斯汀全市经济适用房空置率近16%，超过4500套单位空置，而该市极低收入住房目标为2万套，却仅完成543套1；丹佛60%中位数收入水平（60% AMI）单位空置率达13%，80% AMI单位更高达21%1；波特兰经济适用房空置率为7.5%，涉及超1700套单位，主要为60% AMI单位1。
贫困租户的负担日益沉重。极低收入租户中约75%的收入超过一半用于支付租金和水电费1。同时，住房补贴券的覆盖面严重不足——仅约1/4符合资格的家庭能获得住房补贴券，等待名单通常需要数年1。
The nation's most impoverished renters face a paradoxical housing crisis: while affordable units sit empty, the demand for housing far outpaces available supply. According to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, approximately 11 million extremely low-income renters seek housing, yet only 4 million affordable units exist to serve them.1 Extremely low-income is defined as annual income below the federal poverty line of $16,000 or 30 percent of the local median income, whichever is higher.1 This severe mismatch has forced countless individuals into homelessness or precarious living situations.
The root of the problem lies in how federal financing has been deployed in recent years. In 2024, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, which funds most affordable housing development, directed only 12 percent of new units toward extremely low-income residents, instead favoring those earning 50 percent or more of the local area median income.1 This misalignment has created widespread vacancy rates even as demand remains acute. In Austin, affordable housing sits 16 percent vacant—more than 4,500 units—while the city has completed only 543 of its 20,000-unit goal for extremely low-income housing.1 Denver reports 13 percent vacancy among units affordable to those earning 60 percent of the area median income and 21 percent vacancy among those at 80 percent of median.1 Portland's affordable housing vacancy rate reaches 7.5 percent, comprising over 1,700 units primarily at the 60 percent median income level.1
The financial burden on those who do secure housing remains crushing. Roughly 75 percent of extremely low-income renters spend more than half their income on rent and utilities.1 Meanwhile, housing assistance provides limited relief: only about one-quarter of eligible families receive housing vouchers, with waiting lists typically spanning years.1
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