Half of all renter households need at least a two-bedroom unit. In fact, these Rio Grande Valley cities ranked number one in the nation in the percent of residents unable to afford a two-bedroom apartment. Lower-income people generally pay a much higher percentage of their incomes for housing than most upper and middle income families. Five out of six low-income Texas renters receive no housing subsidy whatsoever. Most middle and upper income families receive a federal housing subsidy in the form of the mortgage interest deduction.
Rents continue to climb in all the metropolitan areas of the state.
The economic and social costs of this lower-income and working class housing crisis has become a major problem for Texas. There are only 148,491 public housing units and Section 8 rental certificates and vouchers in Texas. These subsidized housing units are already filled with low-income families. Yet there are 228,057 more very low families in Texas paying more than half of their income for rent who qualify for but cannot obtain government housing assistance because there are too few units available.