Chicago Housing Authority

60 East Van Buren Street
Chicago, Cook County, Illinois 60605

Chicago Housing Authority is a Public Housing Agency that participates in the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV), Public Housing, Moving to Work, and Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) programs.

Chicago Housing Authority offers Public Housing and Section 8 Housing rental assistance in Chicago.

About Chicago Housing Authority

HCV Portability Status

As of September 24th, 2022, it is not known if Chicago Housing Authority is either absorbing or billing Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher portability requests for porting in. Learn more about porting Housing Choice Vouchers to a new area here.

As of September 24th, 2022, Chicago Housing Authority is absorbing for Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher port-in requests. Learn more about porting Housing Choice Vouchers to a new area here.

About the Chicago Housing Authority Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program

As of the HUDs most recent Voucher Management System report, Chicago Housing Authority manages 50,758 active Housing Choice Vouchers.

The following is a summary of the types of vouchers managed and the monthly costs of each as of December 31st, 2021:

Household Characteristics of Voucher Holders for Chicago Housing Authority

Waiting List and Tenancy

According to the 2016 Q4 Picture of Subsidized Households database, the housing authority's voucher program has an annual turnover of 9% having issued approximately 5,170 vouchers in the past year. The average voucher holder has received housing benefits for 10 years and 2 months. According to the 2016 PSH database, persons who were issued a voucher in the preceding 12 months waited an average of -1 months on the waiting list¹.

Income Characteristics

According to 2016 Q4 Picture of Subsidized Households data, the average voucher household contains 2.3 persons and has a household income of $12,776 per year. 95% of households were very low income (VLI) and 79% were extremely low income (ELI). 34% of households had wages as a major source of income, 5% of households had welfare (TANF, General Assistance or Public Assistance) as their primary source of income, and 56% of households had other income (Social Security, Disability or Pension) as their major source of income.

Heads of Household Characteristics

2% of households were headed by a person 24 years old or less, 53% were headed by a person 25 to 49 years old, 24% were headed by a person 51 to 60 years old, and 21% were headed by a person 62 years old or older. In addition, 1% of households were headed by a person 85 years old or older.

44% of households included children, 2% of which had two adults in the household. 41% of households with children have a female head of household. 82% of all households were headed by a female.

97% of all voucher households were headed by minorities with 87% of all heads of households being Black and 1% being Hispanic.

Of all households participating in the Chicago Housing Authority Housing Choice Voucher program, 19% include at least one person with a disability. 26% of households with a head of household 61 years or less were headed by a person with a disability. 65% of households headed by someone 62 or older were headed by a person with a disability.

Bedroom Size and Overhousing

20% of voucher holders reside in a home with zero or 1 bedroom, 34% with 2 bedrooms and 46% with 3 or more bedrooms. 35% of voucher recipients are considered overhoused, meaning they occupy a rental unit larger than their family size requires.

Rent, Assistance, and Utility Allowances

The average monthly tenant contribution to rent by Chicago Housing Authority voucher holders in 2016 was $371 and the average monthly HUD expenditure per voucher holder was $807. The average utility allowance across all voucher recipients is $110.

1. This Picture of Subsidized Households data field is the average wait time of those who received a voucher in the preceding 12 months. Due to special voucher programs like VASH, recent waiting list purges, or waiting list preferences the average wait time can vary significantly from one year to the next and it is entirely possible many current applicants on the waiting list have been waiting for assistance for far longer.