This figure indicates how affordable housing is for renters. The federal Housing and Urban Development Department guideline for affordability is that rent should consume no more than 30% of household income.

Rent in Monroe County was least affordable for Hispanic and African American residents, with 38% and 45% of their income (respectively) going to rent in 2012-16. By comparison, Asian and white renters had lower proportions of income going towards housing at 29% each. Rent as a percent of income for African Americans in Monroe was 8 points higher than for the nation and 10 points higher than for the state; for Hispanic renters, their portion of income that goes toward housing is 6 points higher than the nation. For other ethnicities, rates were similar in all three geographies. Renters in Rochester spent greater proportions of their income on housing for all racial/ethnic categories than in Monroe, including rates of 40% for Hispanic residents and 48% for African American residents.

In 2012-16, median rents in Monroe County were $906 for white renters, $904 for Asian renters, $851 for African American renters, and $831 for Hispanic renters. There was less variation between the highest and lowest median rent paid by racial or ethnic groups within Monroe County (the highest median rent was 6% above the lowest) than there was at the national and state levels (38% and 26%, respectively).

Multiyear data are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, Public Use Microdata Sample, which paired up four counties (Orleans/Genesee, Wyoming/Livingston) due to relatively small populations. The American Community Survey combines five years of responses to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census. Data for this indicator are expected to be released in the first quarter.