Ordinance 4101-25 - Laserfiche WebLink

Page 10 Everett 2044 Housing Element Appendix Category 2: Sensitfve informatfon children and larger families, and overcrowding has implicatfons for physical and mental health, academic performance, and long-term housing stability. The demographic breakdown of renter households further reveals the systemic nature of housing inequitfes. In 2023, white households accounted for 15,288 of the city’s renters—a decline from over 17,000 in 2010—but they are now outnumbered by renters from communitfes of color when combined. Black, Asian, Latfno, Natfve Hawaiian, and multfracial households together comprise more than 6,800 renter households. Black and Latfno renters in partfcular contfnue to face the highest rates of rent burden and lowest rates of transitfon into homeownership. While homeownership has modestly increased citywide, the renter populatfon remains the most exposed to housing market volatflity. Renters are more vulnerable to displacement, evictfon, rent increases, and inadequate maintenance. They are also more likely to live in older housing stock, which makes them more susceptfble to energy inefficiency, code violatfons, and environmental health risks. The growing instability in Everett’s rental market demands urgent attentfon. Ensuring that renters can access affordable, safe, and stable housing must be a core part of the city’s housing strategy. That includes preserving existfng affordable rentals, enforcing protectfons against displacement, and expanding affordable housing constructfon—partfcularly for families and lower-income households. Without targeted support for renters, Everett risks deepening inequality and losing the very communitfes that have long shaped its neighborhoods and workforce. Soaring Housing Costs and a Widening Affordability Gap Over the past decade, housing in Everett has become dramatfcally more expensive—both for homeowners and renters—outpacing wages and straining the budgets of residents across income levels. This growing affordability gap is the city’s most urgent housing challenge. From 2010 to 2023, the median value of an owner-occupied home in Everett nearly doubled, rising from $277,100 to $532,300 according to Census data. By late 2024, Zillow data placed the median home sale price even higher at $627,339, highlightfng the increasing pressure on households trying to enter the ownership market. At the same tfme, rents have climbed steadily. Median gross rent rose from $878 in 2010 to $1,675 in 2023—an increase of more than 90%. Larger units saw even steeper increases. For example, median rent for a three-bedroom unit jumped from $1,410 to $1,969, and for a four-bedroom unit, it climbed to striking $2,461 per month by 2023. These increases have far outpaced income growth. Over the same period, median household income rose from $47,552 in 2010 to $81,502 in 2023, and median earnings for individual workers reached $49,049. But when compared to housing costs, even these gains have not been enough to keep up. One of the clearest illustratfons of the affordability crisis is the estfmated income required to afford a median-priced home. In 2010, a household needed to earn roughly $58,500 to afford the median home; by 2023, that threshold had ballooned to over $132,000—more than 60% higher than Everett’s median household income. This growing gap between actual income and required income is what defines the affordability crisis. In 2023, the median worker earnings covered only 37% of the income needed to afford a home, while the median household income covered just 62%. In other words, housing is increasingly unaffordable even for middle-income earners. For renters, the picture is similarly strained. By 2023, the annual cost of median rent—just over $20,000—amounted to 41% of the median worker’s income and nearly 25% of the median household income. These figures represent real-world tradeoffs. When housing consumes that large a portfon of a household’s budget, it leaves less for transportatfon, food, child care, and savings. As rent increases show no sign of slowing, more households are finding themselves stretched to the breaking point.