Economics Commons^™

Part 2: The Rent Is Too Damn High: Housing In Hampton Roads, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Is Hampton Roads an affordable place to live? At first glance, median rents and housing values are below those of the closest major metropolitan areas. Comparing housing costs to household income yields a different conclusion: more than 1 in 3 households in Hampton Roads paid more than 30% of their income for housing and 1 in 7 households paid more than 50% of their income for housing. In this chapter, we explore housing affordability in Hampton Roads, Virginia, and the United States and ask what the region can do to make housing more affordable.