Housing Authority	Programs
Housing Authority of the City of Austin	Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV); Public Housing; Family Self-Sufficiency; Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA); Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD)

Guide To Affordable Housing in Austin, Texas

There are 147 low income housing apartment communities offering 19,231 affordable apartments for rent in Austin, Texas.

Income Based Apartments in Austin, Texas

Austin features 4,191 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 Austin, Texas

There are 14,701 rent subsidized apartments that do not provide direct rental assistance but remain affordable to low income households in Austin.

Housing Choice Vouchers in Austin, Texas

On average, Section 8 Housing Choice vouchers pay Austin landlords $900 per month towards rent. The average voucher holder contributes $400 towards rent in Austin.

The maximum amount a voucher would pay on behalf of a low-income tenant in Austin, Texas for a two-bedroom apartment is between $1,220 and $1,492.

2020 Austin, Texas 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.

	Studio	One BR	Two BR	Three BR	Four BR
Fair Market Rent	$988	$1,134	$1,356	$1,763	$2,128
Payment Standard Range	$889 to $1,087	$1,021 to $1,247	$1,220 to $1,492	$1,587 to $1,939	$1,915 to $2,341

Sourced from federal housing data and AffordableHousingOnline.com research.

Austin, TX Affordable Housing Snapshot

Total Affordable Apartment Properties	147
Total Low Income Apartments	19,231
Total Housing Units with Rental Assistance	4,191
Percentage of Housing Units Occupied By Renters	55.19%
Average Renter Household Size	2.31
Average Household Size	2.47
Median Household Income	$57,689 ±$794
Median Rent	$1,047 ±$8
Percentage Of Renters Overburdened	47.78% ± 0.98pp
Total Population	887,061

Population and Household Demographics

Austin is a city in Travis County, Texas with a population of 887,061. There are 351,195 households in the city with an average household size of 2.47 persons. 55.19% of households in Austin are renters.

Income and Rent Overburden in Austin

The median gross income for households in Austin is $57,689 a year, or $4,807 a month. The median rent for the city is $1,047 a month.

Households who pay more than thirty percent of their gross income are considered to be Rent Overburdened. In Austin, a household making less than $3,490 a month would be considered overburdened when renting an apartment at or above the median rent. 47.78% of households who rent are overburdened in Austin.

Area Median Income In Austin

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 Austin, the AMI is calculated from all households within Travis County.

In Austin, HUD calculates the Area Median Income for a family of four as $97,600

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 Austin

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 Austin

Income	1 Person	2 Person	3 Person	4 Person	5 Person	6 Person	7 Person	8 Person
30% of Median	$20,550	$23,450	$26,400	$29,300	$31,650	$35,160	$39,640	$44,120
50% of Median	$34,200	$39,050	$43,950	$48,800	$52,750	$56,650	$60,550	$64,450
80% of Median	$54,700	$62,500	$70,300	$78,100	$84,350	$90,600	$96,850	$103,100

Affordable Housing In Austin Travis County, Texas

147 Low Income Apartment Communities In Austin

Housing Authorities that serve Austin