2022 Austin City Council District-by-District Analysis

Geographic Distribution

Still, the geographic distribution of subsidized affordable housing in different parts of Austin remains inconsistent and has largely been unaddressed since 2015. 

• As the maps below show, Council Districts west of MoPac Expressway have not increased their share of the city’s subsidized housing supply since 2015, as Council Districts 6, 8, and 10 continue to contain less than 5% of Austin’s subsidized affordable housing. 
• However, progress has been made to deconcentrate the subsidized affordable housing supply to a broader range of Districts. In 2015, Districts 1, 3, and 4 contained 66% of the city’s overall affordable housing whereas those same districts contain 50% of the city’s affordable housing supply in 2022, with District 2, 7, and 9 containing a higher percentage of the city’s affordable housing units than they did in 2015.

Starting in January 2022, new Council District boundaries following redistricting went into effect. These changes resulted in a number of properties with subsidized affordable housing units shifting between Council Districts. The table below highlights the changes in subsidized affordable housing units by Council District due to redistricting. In general, District 1 saw the most subsidized affordable housing shift to other districts, with 654 units previously in District 1 into other Districts after redistricting. Meanwhile District 4 experienced the highest increase in subsidized housing units due to redistricting, with an additional 634 affordable units moving into District 4 that were previously in different Districts.

Housing Price Increases

While the city’s subsidized affordable housing supply has increased significantly over the past decade, housing prices have risen to unprecedented levels in 2022. 

• The median home sale price continued to rise in 2022 to a record high of $590,000, a 10% increase from the median home sale price for the City of Austin in 2021 ($536,331). 
• Additionally, rents across the city also rose to record highs in 2022, growing to an average rent of $1,707.
• Council Districts 1, 2, 4, and 7, which had the the lowest average rents in 2021 and 2022 saw the highest percent increase in average rent between the two years, seeing increases between 5.1% to 10.8% year over year, signifying that rent is rising fastest in the areas of the city with historically more affordable rental housing.

Alarming Trends

Furthermore, many households across Austin continue to pay too much of their income toward housing amid rising costs.

• In the City of Austin overall, the percentage of households who are cost burdened (spend 30% or more of their income on housing costs) increased from 34% in 2021 to 35% in 2022.
• In Districts 6, 8, and 10 - the districts with some of the highest housing prices - the percentage of renters who experience housing cost burden increased by 3% to 5% from 2021 to 2022, signifying the struggles of affordable rental housing in those Districts.
• Across Austin as a whole, 45% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income toward housing costs alone. Furthermore, nearly 1 in 4 renter households pay 50% or more of their income on housing costs alone (extremely housing cost burdened).

Conclusion

While rising housing prices present significant obstacles to affordability in Austin, we know that increasing the amount of subsidized affordable housing will be critical to addressing these challenges in the coming years. As this District Analysis shows, the subsidized housing supply has increased by 155% in eight years, illustrating that the Austin community has prioritized building affordable housing over the past decade. As a community, we must continue to support and expand policies that increase affordable housing options in Austin, such as passing the 2018 and 2022 Affordable Housing Bonds and adopting programs like Affordability Unlocked and other density bonus programs that include affordable housing requirements.

Though the amount of subsidized affordable housing has substantially increased across the city since 2015, affordable units have remained concentrated in specific parts of the city, namely the Eastern Crescent, while areas west of MoPac Expressway continue to present affordability challenges. If we, as a community, continue to prioritize creating more affordable housing options for all Austinites across all parts of the city, we can ensure that we meet our community goals that everyone has access to safe, affordable, and attainable housing in Austin.

Zoom for greater detail and click on the Districts in each map to learn more about the key findings for that Council District.

For more detailed information, you can find our full  Austin City Council District-by-District and Community at a Glance Analysis at our website .