City of Tallahassee Affordable Housing Dashboard
Partnering to build and preserve affordable housing in Tallahassee
Safe and affordable housing is essential for vibrant neighborhoods and high quality of life for every community. As part of the Five-Year Strategic Plan , the City of Tallahassee has a goal to be a leading community partner that actively connects residents to resources that remove economic and social barriers. To that end, the City of Tallahassee’s Housing Division partners with community agencies and housing developers to build and preserve the inventory of affordable housing within the City, and to ensure that all residents have access to safe and sustainable housing. Our vision is to be a creative capital city that supports a strong community with vibrant neighborhoods. Our community’s housing challenges require a multi-faceted response that is creative, collaborative and data driven. This dashboard provides an overview of our local challenges and highlights strategic programs implemented by the City and its partners to meet the housing needs of our growing community.
Our Community
A City of Neighborhoods
Tallahassee, with a population of nearly 200,000, is a city of neighborhoods, each with unique histories and distinct flavors. At their best, they create a beautiful tapestry of unique experiences in every part of the City. The number of households continue to grow - over 8% over the past decade. Residents span all ages across various ethnicities, with seniors and the elderly making up one of the fastest growing demographics. We need affordable housing along a broad spectrum based on the varying needs of our diverse population and place-based solutions to reverse historic inequities.
Economic Indicators
Despite an increasing diversity and median income across the city, parts of the community remain divided along socioeconomic lines and prosperity is unequal across zip codes. Due to a history of systemic racism and divestment, certain parts of our community face numerous challenges to accessing economic opportunities, including housing and food insecurity, transportation barriers and low educational attainment. Historically Black neighborhoods such as Frenchtown, Griffin Heights, Bond, Providence, and South City that once thrived have faced decades of socioeconomic decline. The City has identified these areas as our Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area, defined as primarily residential areas with majority low- and moderate-income households.
According to the US Census Bureau, approximately 26.4% of City residents are living below the poverty line. Historically, about 8% of our local poverty rate is attributed to the large college student population in the City. The United Way of Florida further identifies that about 30% of our population is above the poverty line, however, they are Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE), or "working poor."
The median household income level in the Tallahassee area is about $53,000 for a single individual. The median household income in the NRSA census tracts is nearly 75% less than the City’s median household income. The unemployment rate in the is also significantly higher (17.5%) than City’s average (8.9%). Across the state of Florida, low-wage jobs still dominate the economic landscape, making it challenging for working households to afford a decent livelihood. Low- and moderate-income households are disproportionally housing cost-burdened, in addition to other challenges brought on by generational poverty and blight.
Educational Attainment
Poverty and education are intimately connected. Access to quality education is a critical path out of poverty because it can increase earning potential, reduce inequality, and improve one’s livelihood. Beyond access, children in poor families have a harder time performing well in schools due to the many challenges they face outside of school. residents over 25 years old are disproportionately undereducated compared to the City overall. The percentage of NRSA residents with less than a high school diploma is almost three times the City average (15.6% in the NRSA compared to 7.2% in the City). Overall, 44.8% of NRSA residents over 25 years old have only a high school diploma or GED compared to 24.3% of the City.
Housing Market
In order to better understand the demand for affordable housing and develop appropriate solutions, a 2020 Housing Market Analysis provides a snapshot of the City’s current housing stock and housing facilities. The analysis includes housing supply, availability of affordable housing, housing cost and condition of housing units, and the supply of housing or facilities for people with disabilities and those experiencing homelessness.
The City has roughly 88,000 total housing units with about 11,000 (12.5%) of them located within the . The majority of the housing supply are single-family units, followed by large apartments. There are not enough one bedroom units and mid-size units such as accessory dwelling units, duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes to meet the demand. Known as the “missing middle,” these types of units are typically more affordable for households at various economic and life stages.
Homeownership can promote housing stability and remains the primary means of wealth creation in America. However, homeownership is out of reach for many households because of increasing sale prices and lack of savings for a down payment. There are more renters than homeowners in Tallahassee, and homeownership rates within the are lower than elsewhere. It is important to note that as a college-town, Tallahassee is home to 58,000 college students (20% of the population) who are predominately renters. Out of the total housing units in the City, 34% (~30,000) are owner-occupied and 52% (~45,000) are renter-occupied. Within the NRSA, only 15% are homeowners.
Our Challenge
Access to safe and affordable housing is fundamental to the health, livelihood, and quality of life of residents, and is an important component of the long-term sustainability of all communities. When people have safe and stable housing, they are better protected from climate hazards, less likely to enter poverty when they experience a crisis, and in the long term, their health, educational, and economic prospects improve. Analysis of American Community Survey (ACS) and Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) data as well as data from local sources shows a complex need for affordable housing in the Tallahassee-Leon County area, stemming from a variety of factors.
Cost Burden
The most prevalent housing problem in Tallahassee is cost burden and this is most felt by extremely low-income families and renters. Local wages have not kept pace with rising rent and home sale prices. A household that spends more than 30% of their income for housing expenses is “cost burdened” and households spending more than 50% of their income for housing are “severely cost burdened.” According to a recent report by the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies, over 30,000 households in Tallahassee (~42%) are housing cost burdened. Most of these households are low-wage earners in need of units below $700/month.
Limited Public Housing
The Tallahassee Housing Authority (THA) provides housing opportunities for very low-income persons. THA manages 344 public housing units and approximately 2,300 housing vouchers (fluctuates per federal allocation). The Shimberg Center’s Assisted Housing Inventory reports that there are about 4,000 subsidized units in the City of Tallahassee since 2002, and about 1,900 of them will be lost by 2025 due to subsidy program expiration. There is a need for additional publicly subsidized housing as demonstrated by the low turnover rate of THA units and over 5,000 eligible households that remain on THA’s waitlist.
Aging Housing Stock
A significant portion of Tallahassee’s housing stock is older, with most of the units built before 1980. Approximately 60% of Tallahassee’s owner-occupied and renter-occupied housing units need rehabilitation to be preserved. The older overall housing stock requires continuous investment in rehabilitation to maintain the affordable housing stock and to eliminate blight.
Costly Development Process
Like most of the country, the local need for affordable housing is outpacing the supply in our community. Government regulations, such as land use/zoning and building codes, significantly impacts the production of housing, and can create an uneven distribution of quality affordable units across the city. The more costly or cumbersome the development process, the less profitable it becomes, and therefore creating a disincentive for private developers to build lower-priced units.
Chronic Homelessness
Someone experiencing homelessness lacks a regular, fixed, and adequate nighttime residence. This includes couch surfing with friends and/or family members in crowded homes, runaway youth, and those fleeing domestic violence. Individuals and families that are housing insecure are some of the most vulnerable to climate threats, physical and mental illnesses, and public safety incidents.
In 2022, the Big Bend Continuum of Care reported that approximately 620 people are experiencing homelessness on any given night in Leon County and could spend an average of 106 nights in an emergency shelter. This represents less than 1% of the total population and continues to decrease. However, about 25% of these individuals are chronically homeless and in need of mental health or disability services coupled with permanent supportive housing.
Our Strategy
Each year, the City receives funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Florida State Housing Initiative Partnership (SHIP) to leverage with local resources to advance affordable housing programs. The City’s Five-Year Strategic Plan, Consolidated Housing Development Plan, and Local Housing Assistance Plan detail the City’s overall approach, the available funding, and long-term goals for each strategy.
Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area
Because socioeconomic issues persist in certain parts of the community, we also need a place-based approach to prioritize areas with the greatest need. While our housing programs span the entire community, the City has designated a HUD-approved to maximize funding by focusing housing activities in areas of the greatest need. The City’s NRSA includes several historically significant areas in the Frenchtown, Griffin Heights, Greater Bond, South City, and Providence neighborhoods.
Housing Spectrum
Safe and secure housing exists along a broad spectrum to serve households at various economic and life stages. The City partners with community agencies and housing developers to build and preserve the inventory of affordable housing within the community, and to ensure that all residents have access to sustainable housing. The City preserves existing homes through repair for low-income households, support homeownership through down payment loans, and incentivizes a creative mix of new developments by private developers.
City Housing Program Accomplishments Since October 1, 2017
Development Incentives
In addition to direct assistance to residents, the city has adopted several initiatives to support private for-profit and nonprofit developers who commit to building and preserving affordable housing for low- and moderate-income residents. From design to occupancy, the City offers financial incentives, development flexibilities, and expedited permitting to help make affordable housing projects successful.
The map on the right shows locations of existing, and newly constructed affordable housing developments (since 2020), as well as certified projects in the development pipeline. Clicking a location on the map will provide more information on the development. The links below provide information to assist in searching for units available for rent.
Creating Pathways Out of Homelessness
The City partners with the Big Bend Continuum of Care (BBCoC) and member service providers to make homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring. Thanks to a large network of service providers, since 2018, Tallahassee has continued to experience an overall reduction in individuals and families experiencing homelessness each year.
Homelessness System Performance
Homelessness is a dynamic issue and requires flexible solutions with multiple partners. For the first time ever for our region, the City has developed an operational dashboard to bring more situational awareness to the local homelessness challenges, available funding, and performance metrics that will help us to achieve a ‘Functional Zero’ .
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the dashboard has been expanded to also track residential eviction and foreclosure trends since January 2020.
Providing affordable housing and ending chronic homelessness are complex community challenges that require collaboration, creativity, and strategic investment. Shared goals and performance measures help us to achieve the ultimate objective: that all residents have equal access to safe, affordable, and sustainable housing.
Habitat for Humanity Ceremony, June 2021
