Frankie Cordeira Jr.

Description: $84000 a year now qualifies as low income in Orange County... A family of four with an annual income of $84450 or less now qualifies as low income in Orange County. A single person living alone qualifies as low income if he or she earns $58450 or less a year. Orange County has the fifth-highest income threshold in the nation according to new income limits released last month by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Government and private agencies use HUDsincome calculations to determine eligibility for a wide variety of assistance programs ranging from rent subsidy vouchers and public housing to mortgage assistance. While low-income families qualify for some programs othersare limited to households earning far less with limits as low as $31300 for a family of four. Record-high rents and home prices are driving up Southern California income limits. Orange County apartment rents for example increased 20 percent over the past seven years while the median sale price of an Orange County house has jumped 40 percent. When you tell somebody thats making $70000 that theyre low income they go What? Thats low income? Unfortunately thats what comes from living in a high-cost county said Cesar Covarrubias executive director of the Kennedy Commission an Irvine-based affordable housing advocacy group. That makes it difficult for working families at all levels. Under the 2017 figures Orange Countys income threshold for a family of four jumped $5450 from last years level. The only metro areas with higher income limits are San Francisco;Fairfield County Connecticut; Silicon Valley and Honolulu. Even a six-figure salary doesnt cut the mustard in San Francisco Marin and San Mateo counties. A family of four there earning $105350 or lessnow is considered low income HUD figures show. Orange County income limits for a family of four exceed Philadelphias ($66550) Seattles ($72000) Los Angeles Countys ($72100) San Diegos ($72750) and Bostons ($78150). Even New York City and east Long Island (which includes the Hamptons) have lower limits: $76300 for a family of four in the Big Apple and $81000 in Nassau and Suffolk counties. The income limit for an Inland Empire family of four increased $500 this year to $51600. A family qualifies as low income if it earns roughly80 percent or less than the median income for a given metro area although adjustments are made to reflect a high-cost areas rent and home prices. HUD listed Orange Countys median income at $88000 this year Los Angeles Countys at $64300 and the Inland Empires at $63200. Bay Area median incomes are even higher: $115300 for the San Francisco area $113300 for Silicon Valley and $97400 for the East Bays Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The low-income threshold shouldnt be confused however with even lower income limits that qualify residents for various programs for the poor such as newSection 8 rent vouchers or public housing. For example 75 percent of new admissions to the Section 8 rental assistance program must have incomes at roughly 30 percent or below an area median income. For a family of four that extremely low income category is limited to those earning no more than $31300 a year in Orange County $27050 in Los Angeles County and $24600 a year in the Inland Empire. But other programs are available to families in the low-income category. For example NeighborWorks Orange Countys CalHome program provides down-payment assistance and second mortgages to low-income homebuyers. High-income limits are justified in a county wherethe median house price tops $700000 said Karla Lopez del Rio NeighborWorks vice president of marketing. You probably need to make three times the median income to afford the median-priced house Lopez del Rio said. Actually (the income limit) is not high enough for our reality. In addition to federal programs a number of local state or private agencies base their own income qualifications on HUD limits. For example private affordable housing projects built with federal low-income tax credits rely on the HUD data for determining resident eligibility as do nonprofit groups providing down-payment assistance or low-cost mortgages.
By Frankie Cordeira Jr.
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