Kenai, Alaska Affordable Housing Data

Income Based Apartments in Kenai, Alaska

Kenai features 71 income based apartments. Tenants of income based apartments typically pay no more than 30% of their income towards rent and utilities.

Low Rent Apartments in Kenai, Alaska

There are 24 rent subsidized apartments that do not provide direct rental assistance but remain affordable to low income households in Kenai.

Housing Choice Vouchers in Kenai, Alaska

On average, Section 8 Housing Choice vouchers pay Kenai landlords $600 per month towards rent. The average voucher holder contributes $500 towards rent in Kenai.

The maximum amount a voucher would pay on behalf of a low-income tenant in Kenai, Alaska for a two-bedroom apartment is between $1,061 and $1,297.

2023 Kenai, Alaska Fair Market Rents and Housing Choice Voucher Payment Standards

Fair Market Rents can be used to better understand the average housing costs of an area. Fair Market Rents are used by HUD to establish payment and rent standards for federal rental assistance programs like the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program.

Sourced from federal housing data and AffordableHousingOnline.com research.

Kenai, AK Affordable Housing Snapshot

Total Affordable Apartment Properties	4
Total Low Income Apartments	95
Total Housing Units with Rental Assistance	71
Percentage of Housing Units Occupied By Renters	41.96%
Average Renter Household Size	2.31
Average Household Size	2.43
Median Household Income	$62,236 ±$5,314
Median Rent	$900 ±$50
Percentage Of Renters Overburdened	42.4% ± 9.17pp
Total Population	7,463

Population and Household Demographics

Kenai is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska with a population of 7,463. There are 3,041 households in the city with an average household size of 2.43 persons. 41.96% of households in Kenai are renters.

Income and Rent Overburden in Kenai

The median gross income for households in Kenai is $62,236 a year, or $5,186 a month. The median rent for the city is $900 a month.

Households who pay more than thirty percent of their gross income are considered to be Rent Overburdened. In Kenai, a household making less than $3,000 a month would be considered overburdened when renting an apartment at or above the median rent. 42.4% of households who rent are overburdened in Kenai.

Area Median Income In Kenai

Affordable housing program eligibility is always determined by one's income. Each household's income is compared to the incomes of all other households in the area. This is accomplished through a statistic established by the government called the Area Median Income, most often referred to as AMI. The AMI is calculated and published each year by HUD.

HUD often uses an area larger than a city to determine the AMI because HUD anticipates those searching for housing will look beyond individual cities during their housing search. For Kenai, the AMI is calculated from all households within Kenai Peninsula Borough.

In Kenai, HUD calculates the Area Median Income for a family of four as $105,500

Most affordable housing programs determine eligibility based on the percent of AMI a given household's income is. Among the programs that determine eligibility based on the AMI are Section 8, HOME, LIHTC, Section 515, 202 and 811.

Rental Assistance in Kenai

Rental assistance is a type of housing subsidy that pays for a portion of a renter’s monthly housing costs, including rent and tenant paid utilities. This housing assistance can come in the form of Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, project-based Section 8 contracts, public housing, USDA Rental Assistance (in Section 515 properties) as well as HUD Section 202 and 811 properties for elderly and disabled households.

Income Qualifications for HUD Rental Assistance in Kenai