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. High housing costs can force households to choose between paying for housing and meeting other basic needs such as food, clothing and health care.

Rent in Monroe County was least affordable for Hispanic and African American residents, with 39% and 41% of their income (respectively) going to rent in 2015-19. By comparison, Asian and white renters had lower proportions of income going towards housing at 26% and 29% (respectively). Rent as a percent of income for African Americans in Monroe was 7 points higher than for the nation and state; for Hispanic renters, their portion of income that goes toward housing is 7 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 42% for Hispanic residents and 43% for African American residents.

In 2015-19, median rents in Monroe County were $945 for white renters, $911 for Asian renters, $913 for African American renters, and $884 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 (30% and 23%, respectively).

Historic and current policies and systems, from racist housing policies to employment discrimination to education systems that fail to equitably serve all populations, have prevented people of color from fully participating in our economy, locking them out of economic opportunity. This has resulted in lower incomes for people of color, which means housing costs are a greater burden. At the same time, housing costs are rising faster than incomes and affordable housing is limited.

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.