What is affordable?

People often have difficulty when thinking about what it means to be considered "affordable". Many people believe it's only housing for the poorest of the poor not realizing it's also housing for some members of the workforce. This can be tradesman, government workers, office workers, service sector employees. Essentially, it is those whose jobs are critical to a city or municipality.

A home that is affordable is attainable to a household where household expenditures (mortgage, insurance and taxes) do not exceed 30% of household income . A household who spends greater than 30% is considered cost-burdened. To be eligible for State or Federal housing subsidies, households are subject to certain income limitations. They are very low-income, low-income, and moderate-income and are defined as:

Moderate-income is between 50% and 80% of the area median income.
Low-income is between 30% and 50% of the area median income.
Very low-income is below 30% of the area median income.