Housing problems in rural areas

The availability of affordable housing is essential for any community and has recently become a growing concern in rural areas. Over the past year, the demand for multi-family housing has grown in rural areas and small towns while it has shrunk in highly urbanized areas, suburbs, and exurbs of large cities. The COVID-19 pandemic changed the ways many people work and live. One of these changes has been an increase in the number of people who are trading in life in a big city for small-town living, including higher-income earners who work from home. And, as seen in communities across the country, when population and demand grow, so do local housing prices. As rural areas continue to draw new population growth, they must take steps to ensure they meet new demand while also protecting housing affordability for existing residents and maintaining their unique small-town character and appeal. Long-Standing Problems Demand Attention Increases in population and demand are also shining a light on existing challenges in the rural housing market that have been largely ignored until now. Rural communities typically tend to fall short of affordable housing supply targets for low- and middle-income households. And, due to the nature of the housing market in rural areas, more housing units are usually available for sale than for rent. As rural populations begin to grow, many communities are investing in renovating empty industrial or commercial buildings into upscale multifamily living. S...

Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. The physical vastness and cultural diversity of the United States can make the country seem more inherently different than it is similar. But what’s broadly true of America in rural and urban areas alike is the “The housing system isn’t working on behalf of a lot of rural residents,” says David Lipsetz, CEO of the Housing Assistance Council (HAC), a nationwide nonprofit dedicated to helping build affordable rural housing. Nearly a quarter of the nation’s most rural counties have seen a “sizable increase” in the percentage of residents spending more than half their income on housing, a scenario the federal government calls “severely cost-burdened.” Stateline analysis of American Community Survey information It’s tempting, but simplistic, to say that rural America’s surfeit of space and relatively low cost of living have allowed it to sidestep the affordability crisis hitting the rest of the country. In many ways, the crisis in rural areas is just as serious as the one in the country’s largest cities. According to HAC stats, there were 6.6 million rural rental units in the country in 2016; 81.7 percent of those units cost less than $1,...

Reducing poverty and inequality in rural areas: key to inclusive development 20 May 2021 Introduction Extreme poverty is mainly a rural phenomenon. Four of every five people below the $1.90-a-day international income poverty line lived in rural areas in 2013 (Castañeda and others, 2018). Over the last decades, however, there has been tremendous progress in reducing rural poverty, partly as a result of successful policies promoting economic opportunities for the rural poor and expanding social protection in rural areas. This progress has not been equitable across the board. The same economic forces that reduce poverty, including rural development and urbanization, can increase inequalities. Moreover, poverty is now rising due to the COVID-19 crisis. All evidence points to increasing inequality as well. The pandemic and subsequent lockdown measures have affected urban areas disproportionately but have had a substantial impact on rural residents. Travel and transport restrictions disrupt the livelihoods of the rural poor, many of whom depend on mobility, seasonal and migrant work and remittances. In some countries, there has been a massive return of migrants to rural areas, largely due to job loss. This policy brief focuses on the linkages between poverty and inequality in rural areas. It illustrates that rural poverty and rural inequalities, although interlinked, follow different dynamics. The brief concludes by discussing policies that promote inclusive development in rural...

A map of that shows the need, by county, for affordable rental housing within USDA-eligible rural census tracts. Amid all the talk of a national housing crisis, rural communities are likely to go unmentioned. It’s often assumed that rural communities and small towns have lots of land and homes to spare—about 75 to 80 percent of land in the U.S. is rural, but only 15 to 20 percent of the population lives in rural areas. But rural communities are actually quite diverse. Some communities are growing, facing a supply squeeze and rising housing costs as new residents who can afford to spend more on housing move in. Other communities are stable, but a small change—gaining or losing a business or industry, a few dozen housing units, or a health services facility—could send housing prices spiraling up or down. In communities that are experiencing population loss, incomes may be too low for property owners to adequately reinvest in the existing housing supply. Many Rural Communities Lack Rental Housing Almost 3 out of every 4 rural homes is owner-occupied, leaving about 1 out of every 4 available for rent. While not necessarily a problem everywhere, in some communities those available rental units may be fully occupied, leaving no room for new renters. For instance, in rural parts of Randolph County, Georgia, that are eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) housing programs, all rental units were filled by existing households, according to data from the 2010-2014 America...

1. There are different definitions of poverty. There’s no international consensus on measuring poverty. Generally, absolute poverty thresholds are determined by measuring survival needs like food and shelter for different-sized households. The United Nations Development Program’s definition of poverty recognizes that poverty cannot be measured by income alone. Instead, it takes a multidimensional approach, accounting for health, education and standard of living, including access to clean water, sanitation, electricity and quality of housing because of the foundational role each plays in allowing families to lead a decent life. 2. People living in poor circumstances are not necessarily who (or where) you think. A family can fall into poverty for many reasons — medical emergencies, crop failures, sudden unemployment. In the U.S., two out of five households don’t have the savings to get through a financial shock while one of every five children struggles with a lack of adequate resources. Worldwide, a child under the age of 15 dies every five seconds , mostly of preventable causes that poverty exacerbates. And though impoverished living conditions are often perceived as confined to cities, the poverty rates in rural areas continue to exceed those in urban areas in several countries, including Romania , Indonesia and the U.S. 3. Affordable housing can be hard to find. In many regions of the world, the number of low-income households far exceeds the affordable housing units ava...

Print Image Credit: Chiara F on Rural America is far more diverse than how it is portrayed in media and popular culture. This article concludes the series: , authors highlight efforts to address multi-generational poverty in Appalachia, the rural West, Indian Country, South Texas, and the Mississippi Delta. The focus on high prices in red-hot urban real estate markets, a centerpiece of most national housing crisis analyses, overshadows the affordability challenges faced in rural America. Centuries of racist policy and decades of disinvestment have created low incomes, a lack of resources, and numerous roadblocks to capital. Overcoming these realities requires a different strategy. Fortunately, a new approach to rural housing that pairs a flexible form of modular housing with community-based finance shows considerable promise. Understanding the Difference Between Rural and Urban Housing Needs At a recent convening focused on increasing homeownership opportunities for Black and Indigenous people and people of color, our coalition of rural community development organizations sat surrounded by affordable housing and community development rockstars from the largest housing markets in the United States, from New York City to San Diego. That is where the problem arises: in facile analysis that compares urban and rural housing markets, barriers, and solutions as if the two are comparable. As conversations drifted to the rising cost of homeownership and the lack of resources to ass...

Editor’s note: We’ve all heard of the great divide between life in rural and urban America. But what are the factors that contribute to these differences? We asked sociologists, economists, geographers and historians to describe the divide from different angles. The data paint a richer and sometimes surprising picture of the U.S. today. 1. Poverty is higher in rural areas Discussions of poverty in the United States often mistakenly focus on urban areas. While urban poverty is a unique challenge, rates of poverty have historically been higher in rural than urban areas. In fact, levels of rural poverty were often double those in urban areas throughout the 1950s and 1960s. While these rural-urban gaps have diminished markedly, substantial differences persist. In 2015, 16.7 percent of the rural population was poor, compared with 13.0 percent of the urban population overall – and 10.8 percent among those living in suburban areas outside of principal cities. Contrary to common assumptions, substantial shares of the poor are employed. Approximately 45 percent of poor, prime-age (25-54) householders worked at least part of 2015 in rural and urban areas alike. The link between work and poverty was different in the past. In the early 1980s, the share of the rural poor that was employed exceeded that in urban areas by more than 15 percent. Since then, more and more poor people in rural areas are also unemployed – a trend consistent with other patterns documented below. That said, rur...

Times Observer photo by Josh Cotton This Spring Street property was declared blighted by the city’s blight panel during a meeting in August. As rents and housing prices have risen across different parts of Pennsylvania, its rural areas face different troubles in housing. Bad credit, high debt, and no collateral have meant that urban residents had a 24% better chance of getting a loan approval than rural residents. A report from the Center for Rural Pennsylvania surveyed housing quality outside cities in the commonwealth and noted what lawmakers could do to improve it. Not all rural areas face the same problems, however. When looking at home improvement loan denials, for example, a few counties jumped out. “Geographically, the research team identified clusters of the highest denial rates in northeastern Pennsylvania (Pike, Monroe, and Carbon counties), outside of Erie (parts of Warren and Crawford counties), parts of Potter and Clinton counties in north central Pennsylvania, and parts of Somerset and Bedford counties in the south,” the report noted. Comparing housing quality statewide, “housing quality in rural areas is lower than it is in urban areas,” mainly due to the housing stock outside cities being older, as well as a higher reliance on coal for heating and fewer amenities. Pennsylvania housing prices have increased in recent years due to a lack of housing in high-demand areas such as around Philadelphia and Harrisburg, as The Center Square previously reported. Exper...

• Rural Health • Tools for Success • Evidence-based Toolkits • Social Determinants of Health in Rural Communities Toolkit • Economic Stability View more Approaches for Improving Rural Housing Affordability Approaches for improving rural housing affordability focus on strategies and mechanisms for improving residents' access to affordable housing to reduce homelessness. Some programs implementing these approaches may provide subsidized housing for residents directly or help people secure permanent, affordable housing. Where you live, including the quality of your housing, can have direct impacts on your health and well-being. Approximately Homelessness is associated with an increased risk of poor health outcomes, especially for individuals who find themselves without stable housing for long periods of time. Certain populations experience higher rates of homelessness in rural communities, including veterans and youth. • Developing partnerships among health and social service providers and organizations working to end homelessness to provide more support services • Expanding local outreach to help identify homeless populations and connect them with care • Involving local leaders and champions, especially faith-based organizations Rural areas may offer limited affordable housing options, putting many more people at risk of homelessness. The types of houses available to rent or buy may be older, and there are Much of the Programs implementing a Housing First approach may offer ...

Times Observer photo by Josh Cotton This Spring Street property was declared blighted by the city’s blight panel during a meeting in August. As rents and housing prices have risen across different parts of Pennsylvania, its rural areas face different troubles in housing. Bad credit, high debt, and no collateral have meant that urban residents had a 24% better chance of getting a loan approval than rural residents. A report from the Center for Rural Pennsylvania surveyed housing quality outside cities in the commonwealth and noted what lawmakers could do to improve it. Not all rural areas face the same problems, however. When looking at home improvement loan denials, for example, a few counties jumped out. “Geographically, the research team identified clusters of the highest denial rates in northeastern Pennsylvania (Pike, Monroe, and Carbon counties), outside of Erie (parts of Warren and Crawford counties), parts of Potter and Clinton counties in north central Pennsylvania, and parts of Somerset and Bedford counties in the south,” the report noted. Comparing housing quality statewide, “housing quality in rural areas is lower than it is in urban areas,” mainly due to the housing stock outside cities being older, as well as a higher reliance on coal for heating and fewer amenities. Pennsylvania housing prices have increased in recent years due to a lack of housing in high-demand areas such as around Philadelphia and Harrisburg, as The Center Square previously reported. Exper...