Public Housing Agencies Serving Forrest City, Arkansas

Public Housing Agencies operate federally assisted affordable housing programs at local levels on behalf of HUD. Notably, housing agencies are responsible for managing Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher, Public Housing, and Project-Based Voucher waiting lists within their jurisdiction.

Forrest City, Arkansas Affordable Housing Data

Income Based Apartments in Forrest City, Arkansas

Forrest City features 963 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 Forrest City, Arkansas

There are 343 rent subsidized apartments that do not provide direct rental assistance but remain affordable to low income households in Forrest City.

Housing Choice Vouchers in Forrest City, Arkansas

On average, Section 8 Housing Choice vouchers pay Forrest City landlords $300 per month towards rent. The average voucher holder contributes $300 towards rent in Forrest City.

The maximum amount a voucher would pay on behalf of a low-income tenant in Forrest City, Arkansas for a two-bedroom apartment is between $648 and $792.

2023 Forrest City, Arkansas 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.

Forrest City, AR Affordable Housing Snapshot

Total Affordable Apartment Properties	18
Total Low Income Apartments	1,307
Total Housing Units with Rental Assistance	963
Percentage of Housing Units Occupied By Renters	55.6%
Average Renter Household Size	2.51
Average Household Size	2.66
Median Household Income	$31,322 ±$4,830
Median Rent	$566 ±$26
Percentage Of Renters Overburdened	46.83% ± 8.49pp
Total Population	14,999

Population and Household Demographics

Forrest City is a city in St Francis County, Arkansas with a population of 14,999. There are 4,252 households in the city with an average household size of 2.66 persons. 55.6% of households in Forrest City are renters.

Income and Rent Overburden in Forrest City

The median gross income for households in Forrest City is $31,322 a year, or $2,610 a month. The median rent for the city is $566 a month.

Households who pay more than thirty percent of their gross income are considered to be Rent Overburdened. In Forrest City, a household making less than $1,887 a month would be considered overburdened when renting an apartment at or above the median rent. 46.83% of households who rent are overburdened in Forrest City.

Area Median Income In Forrest City

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 Forrest City, the AMI is calculated from all households within St Francis County.

In Forrest City, HUD calculates the Area Median Income for a family of four as $49,100

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 Forrest City

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 Forrest City