This figure indicates how affordable housing is for renters. The federal Housing and Urban Development Department guideline for affordability is that rent should consume no more than 30% of household income. High housing costs can force households to choose between paying for housing and meeting other basic needs such as food, clothing and health care.

In 2017-21, Hispanic and African American households typically spent a larger proportion of their income on rent than Asian and white residents did. Rents consumed 35% and 32% of the income of Hispanic and African American households compared to 28% for both Asian American and white households. Norfolk County's rates across all racial and ethnic groups were similar to those at both the state and national level, with the exception of Hispanics who paid more in Norfolk County than the nation (35% in Norfolk compare to 31% nationally).

Among comparison counties, Norfolk and Middlesex generally commanded equal or higher proportions of rent, while Essex was slightly higher.

Historic and current policies and systems, from racist housing policies to employment discrimination to education systems that fail to equitably serve all populations, have prevented people of color from fully participating in our economy, locking them out of economic opportunity. This has resulted in lower incomes for people of color, which means housing costs are a greater burden. At the same time, housing costs are rising faster than incomes and affordable housing is limited.

Multi-year data are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, Public Use Microdata Sample. The American Community Survey combines five years of responses to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census.