Real estate
BY BEN THOMPSON
Median earnings in Austin once again increased by several percentage points in 2024, a sign of ongoing economic and demographic change that also affects who can access affordable housing. The big picture Median family income, or MFI, is calculated by the Department of Housing and Urban Develop- ment annually as a key metric for federal housing assistance. Locally, MFI is used by the city and other enti- ties to determine who affordable housing units can be rented or sold to. HUD defines 80% of an area’s MFI as low-income. The Austin-Round Rock metro area’s MFI for a family of four is $126,000 this year. That’s just over a 3% increase from 2023, following double-digit increases in the previous two years. Current situation The area’s rising MFI is likely skewed by higher earners in fields like tech and construction that continue to arrive in the area, rather than repre- senting wage growth for all Austinites, experts have noted. The increase also means there’s now a larger pool of potential residents in affordable housing provided by groups like Foundation Communities, which builds and manages more than a dozen properties in Central Texas. With a rising MFI, many area residents may not realize they now More qualify for affordable housing as threshold rises
Income increasing The Austin-Round Rock metro area’s median family income increased again in 2024 following double-digit jumps the past two years. The MFI is based on a family of four and scales based on household size.
Median family income (4-person household)
Low-income limit/80% MFI (4-person household)
$140K $120K $100K $0 $60K $80K
+64.06% increase
+59.18% increase
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
2022 2023 2024
NOTE: THE AUSTIN-ROUND ROCK METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREA INCLUDES BASTROP, CALDWELL, HAYS, TRAVIS AND WILLIAMSON COUNTIES.
SOURCE: DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT/COMMUNITY IMPACT
factors like high interest rates. With a rising MFI, he said many more people can now qualify for lower-cost housing. What else? Jamey May, Austin’s housing and community development officer, said the city’s upward income trend will likely continue as it remains an attractive place to live. He also said 2024’s slower increase in comparison to past years may be due in part to all the new housing that’s been added— including affordable units that could keep more longtime residents in place. “We are attracting more wealthy, more high- end, more people from out-of-state to move into those extremely high-end luxury apartment complexes that are dotting our city skyline,” May said. “By building more of the supply, we are able to retain some of the population, to attract some of that lower-income or skilled labor, and not push people out the way we have seen in the last 10 years or so.”
fall under a low-income housing bracket and can qualify for such housing with capped rents. “Whenever I’m speaking in public to groups and I ask people, ‘What do you think the median income is for a family of four?’ People are shocked by how high it is, uniformly. People need more money than we think,” Foundation Communities Executive Director Walter Moreau said. Moreau said there’s already very high demand for lower-cost housing that has led most Foun- dation Communities properties to be “effectively full,” he said. The trend, and the surge of new construction in Austin, may even be pushing some standard apartment complexes to offer rents that are comparable to lower-income limits. For nonprofit builder Austin Habitat for Human- ity, changing MFI levels have a notable impact on the spectrum of potential buyers through its affordable homeownership programs. Habitat’s Chief Impact Officer Billy Whipple said the organization has recently been holding its sales prices relatively steady given other economic
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