Affordable Housing In Sandy Lake
Mercer County, Pennsylvania

2 Low Income Apartment Communities In Sandy Lake

Housing Authorities that serve Sandy Lake

Housing Authority	Programs
Mercer County Housing Authority	Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV); Public Housing

Guide To Affordable Housing in Sandy Lake, Pennsylvania

There are 2 low income housing apartment communities offering 48 affordable apartments for rent in Sandy Lake, Pennsylvania. Sandy Lake features 24 low income apartments with rental assistance where households typically pay no more than 30% of their income towards rent. Additionally, there are 24 other low income apartments that don't provide direct rental assistance but remain affordable to low income households in Sandy Lake.

Sourced from federal housing data and AffordableHousingOnline.com research.

Sandy Lake, PA Affordable Housing Snapshot

Total Affordable Apartment Properties	2
Total Low Income Apartments	48
Total Housing Units with Rental Assistance	24
Percentage of Housing Units Occupied By Renters	41.13%
Average Renter Household Size	2.16
Average Household Size	2.42
Median Household Income	$46,875 ±$17,377
Median Rent	$538 ±$58
Percentage Of Renters Overburdened	36.7% ± 15pp
Total Population	642

Population and Household Demographics

Sandy Lake is a City in Mercer County, Pennsylvania with a population of 642. There are 265 households in the city with an average household size of 2.42 persons. 41.13% of households in Sandy Lake are renters.

Income and Rent Overburden in Sandy Lake

The median gross income for households in Sandy Lake is $46,875 a year, or $3,906 a month. The median rent for the city is $538 a month.

Households who pay more than thirty percent of their gross income are considered to be Rent Overburdened. In Sandy Lake, a household making less than $1,793 a month would be considered overburdened when renting an apartment at or above the median rent. 36.7% of households who rent are overburdened in Sandy Lake.¹

Area Median Income In Sandy Lake

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 Sandy Lake, the AMI is calculated from all households within Mercer County.

In Sandy Lake, HUD calculates the Area Median Income for a family of four as $65,200

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 Sandy Lake

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 Sandy Lake HUD Rental Assistance in Sandy Lake

Income	1 Person	2 Person	3 Person	4 Person	5 Person	6 Person	7 Person	8 Person
30% of Median	$13,700	$16,910	$21,330	$25,750	$30,170	$34,590	$39,010	$43,050
50% of Median	$22,850	$26,100	$29,350	$32,600	$35,250	$37,850	$40,450	$43,050
80% of Median	$36,550	$41,750	$46,950	$52,150	$56,350	$60,500	$64,700	$68,850

Low Income Housing Tax Credits in Sandy Lake

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program aims to create affordable rental housing for low and very low income families.

From 1989 to 1989, 1 low income apartment communities containing 24 rental apartments have been constructed and made affordable to low income persons in Sandy Lake by the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program.

If your income is less than 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI), you should not expect to pay more than the rent value for a unit in the table below. However, Affordable apartment communities that receive funding through the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program may have rental units that are not subject to income and rent limits.

Rent limits for the LIHTC Program are determined so that a household making the maximum income for the expected household size of the unit would only pay 30% of their income for rent.

Income Qualifications for Low Income Housing Tax Credit Apartments in Sandy Lake

Income	1 Person	2 Person	3 Person	4 Person	5 Person	6 Person	7 Person	8 Person
50% of Median	$22,850	$26,100	$29,350	$32,600	$35,250	$37,850	$40,450	$43,050
60% of Median	$27,420	$31,320	$35,220	$39,120	$42,300	$45,420	$48,540	$51,660

For example, the expected household size for a two bedroom apartment is 3 people. Using the table above, the maximum income for a 3 person household at 60% of the AMI in Sandy Lake is $35,220 a year, or $2,935 a month. To determine the maximum rent in the table below we multiply the monthly maximum income, $2,935 by 30% to get a maximum rent of $881 a month.

Rent for units in the LIHTC Program include a utility allowance which is determined by the average monthly cost of utilities paid directly by residents. This allowance has not been subtracted from the rents in the table below. These utility allowances are set on a property by property basis.

% of AMI	Studio	1 Bed	2 Bed	3 Bed	4 Bed	5 Bed
50%	$571	$612	$734	$848	$946	$1,044
60%	$686	$734	$881	$1,018	$1,136	$1,253

Fair Market Rents in Sandy Lake

Fair Market Rents, often abbreviated as FMR, can be used to better understand the average housing costs of an area. Notably, Fair Market Rents are used to establish the payment standards for the Housing Choice Voucher Program, maximum rents in HOME financed rental projects and initial rents for Section 8 project based assistance.

2020 Fair Market Rents

Studio	One BR	Two BR	Three BR	Four BR
$551	$555	$722	$930	$1,034