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A typical standard used to determine housing affordability is that a <br />household should pay no more than a certain percentage of household <br />income for housing, including payments and interest or rent, utilities, and <br />insurance. HUD guidelines indicate that households paying more than <br />30% of their income on housing experience "cost burden' and households <br />paying more than 50% of their income on housing experience "severe cost <br />burden." Using cost burden as an indicator is consistent with the Goal 10 <br />requirement of providing housing that is affordable to all households in a <br />community. <br />Figure 24 shows housing costs as a percent of income by tenure for <br />Eugene households in 2011. According to the American Community <br />Survey, 50% of Eugene households experienced cost burden in 2011. The <br />rate was much higher for Eugene renters (64%) than for homeowners <br />(33%). <br />Figure 24. Comparisons of cost burden for Eugene, 2011 <br />0 <br />L <br />N <br />0 <br />0 <br />0 <br />iu <br />U <br />a <br />100% <br />90% <br />80% <br />70% <br />60% <br />50% <br />40% <br />30% <br />20% <br />10% <br />0% <br />Cost burden for all households <br />Oregon Lane County Eugene <br />■Not cost burdened ■Cost burdened <br />Source: American Community Survey 2011 625070 625091 <br />100% <br />90% <br />80% <br />0 70% <br />L <br />60% <br />0 <br />0 <br />L 50% <br />0 <br />40% <br />U <br />Do 30% <br />20% <br />10% <br />0% <br />Cost burden for all Eugene households <br />All households Owner households Renter households <br />E3 Not cost burdened ■Cost burdened <br />In comparison, about 61,000 households in Lane County -44% — were <br />cost burdened in 2011, with 61 % of renter households cost burdened and <br />31 % of owner households cost burdened. The State average of cost burden <br />was 42%, with 55% of renter households cost burdened and 33% of owner <br />households cost burdened. <br />While cost burden is a common measure of housing affordability, it does <br />have some limitations. Two important limitations are: <br />A household is defined as cost burdened if the housing costs <br />exceed 30% of their income, regardless of actual income. The <br />remaining 70% of income is expected to be spent on non - <br />discretionary expenses, such as food or medical care, and on <br />Page 78 ECONorthwest Part 11 — Eugene Housing Needs Analysis <br />