Professor Lens' research focuses on disparate outcomes resulting from inequities in housing markets, neighborhood stratification, and effects of housing subsidy programs. His research on housing subsidies and crime has challenged conventional wisdom regarding the housing voucher program, showing that those who receive those subsidies live in much safer neighborhoods than those living in housing constructed with supply-side subsidies. In recent research, Professor Lens is studying job accessibility among housing subsidy recipients, the effect of the housing bust on housing subsidy demand, the relationship between land use regulations and income segregation, and the effect of negative housing equity on mental health outcomes. Professor Lens' research recently won awards from the Journal of the American Planning Association and Housing Policy Debate.