Housing Policy Reading Room

ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed and is a method United Way uses to describe people who earn more than the federal poverty limit yet are still struggling financially. This report contains a trove of useful information people and families face sharing the distressing finding that 36% of Iowans fail to meet the ALICE threshold for being able to afford a basic survival budget as of 2021.

In an ever-changing world, leveraging relevant data is critical to identifying barriers to financial well-being within communities. Guided by the cooperative credit union philosophy of "people helping people", the Iowa Credit Union Foundation is on a mission to champion financial well-being across Iowa. 

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In an effort to support financial institutions and community organizations with actionable data, ICUF has invested in the creation of a statewide report, “Economic Realities of Communities of Color in Iowa”.

Across the U.S., a disproportionate number of minority communities are financially vulnerable (just one missed paycheck or accident away from a crisis). This Report provides further context to these figures nationwide and within Iowa. Our research shows that Iowa households of Color are more than twice as likely as White households to live with an income below the federal poverty level.

A partnership between the American Planning Association (APA) and the National League of Cities (NLC), the Housing Supply Accelerator is a national campaign to improve local capacity, identify critical solutions, and speed reforms that enable communities and developers to work together to produce, preserve and provide a diverse range of quality housing by realigning the efforts of public and private stakeholders in the housing sector to meet housing needs at the local level.

The aim of this project was to emphasize health in a long-range plan for housing in Greater Des Moines. This project piggybacked on the Polk County Housing Trust Fund’s (PCHTF) planning efforts to obtain community perceptions on housing-related issues for Housing Tomorrow (HT), the region’s first plan for affordable housing (The Tomorrow Plan, 2014). Using secondary data and responses to key interviews, this project produced a survey tool designed to collect specialized health data related to housing in Greater Des Moines. This project fulfilled requirements of a planning capstone through its strategic approach to public participation and emphasis on advocacy planning. Additionally, its focus on population health and consideration of social determinants as risk factors met the requirements of a public health capstone.

The Community Health Needs Assessment provides detailed durvey data for Polk, Dallas, and Warren Counties about a range of health information.

The primary impetus for this study is the hypothesis that existing housing needs assessments do not fully capture either the existing affordable housing supply or affordable housing need in Polk County. Therefore the primary research question asks: To what extent does the existing supply of affordable housing in Polk County match with the existing need for affordable housing?

This study assesses a range of data sources toward the development of a more comprehensive inventory of the affordable housing market in Polk County, IA. From the assessment we will propose a methodology for cost-effective, periodic inventory, and test the methodology using several neighborhoods within the study area.

Use this dashboard to view data about emergency housing vouchers from public housing authorities across the country including in Iowa.

Use this dashboard to view data about housing choice vouchers managed by public housing authorities across the country including in Iowa.

Housing Tomorrow is the region's comprehensive overview of affordable housing strategy.

Provides a detailed look at the data surrounding affordability and the dream of homeownership for Iowa residents.

This PCHTF white paper explores why location is key for success in developing affordable housing.

In housing, it is essential to "disaggregate the data," splitting apart common housing indicators to see disparities that exist in our community according to race and ethnicity, among other factors. The National Equity Atlas is billed as "America's most detailed report card on racial and economic equity." It contains searchable indicators on a variety of factors related to the economic inclusion of communities of color - and much more.

Learn about the economic and social disparities affecting Black Polk County.

We frequently rely on this database as a way of showing whether the income people and families earn at their jobs is sufficient to afford the rent in our community. Using Paycheck to Paycheck you can search among almost 150 different occupations to see what type of housing typical wages will support.

This PCHTF white paper discusses the negative perceptions of affordable housing and how to overcome them.

This annual report on national housing trends is always a must read.

Learn about our state's challenge supporting extremely low income renters.

The Tomorrow Plan is "the one that started it all" for a generation of planning and urban design-focused community members in Greater Des Moines. The plan took a sustainability focused approach to envisioning how the region will change as its population nears one million people.

The Unsheltered Des Moines Study was commissioned to better understand the experiences of people living unsheltered (on the streets or in places not intended for human habitation) in Polk County. The study examines why individuals face barriers to shelter and permanent housing in Greater Des Moines and provides a platform for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness to tell the community how best to help them. Drawing from first-hand accounts and extensive research, the study presents recommendations to improve homeless services, create system-wide change, and ultimately reduce the number of our neighbors living outdoors.

Commissioned by PCHTF and local governments, this report looks at the types of jobs growing in Des Moines and creates a forecast for future housing demand based on increased jobs coming to the region.

An analysis of the 2019 Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) special tabulations representing a snapshot of the low-income rental market prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. This first-of-its-kind analysis provides a snapshot of the local rental housing market prior to the outbreak.

Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing describes more affordable rental housing that's not protected by income restrictions tied to a government subsidy or other housing program. So-called "NOAH" housing is an important part of housing vulnerable people in our community.

Learn how federal policy, especially after World War II, transformed the way Iowans and Americans become homeowners. While these efforts created tremendous wealth and opportunity, they excluded many along racial and ethnic lines, leading to large racial homeownership gaps that persist in our community today. The report ends by reflecting on increased housing prices during the pandemic era.

Nuestro Iowa examines data about Iowa's Latinx community. It provides an in-depth look at topics like housing, education, and more.

Children in low-income families are more likely to move frequently, which can have negative effects on their educational achievement. Frequent moves can disrupt children's education by making it difficult to make friends, adjust to new schools, and stay on track academically. Affordable housing can help to stabilize children's lives and improve their educational outcomes.

About one third of residents in Greater Des Moines live in a census tract identified as an environmental justice area as identified by the Des Moines Area MPO.

The primary impetus for this study is the hypothesis that existing housing needs assessments do not fully capture either the existing affordable housing supply or affordable housing need in Polk County. Therefore the primary research question asks: To what extent does the existing supply of affordable housing in Polk County match with the existing need for affordable housing?

This study assesses a range of data sources toward the development of a more comprehensive inventory of the affordable housing market in Polk County, IA. From the assessment we will propose a methodology for cost-effective, periodic inventory, and test the methodology using several neighborhoods within the study area.

Due to increasing concerns among community leaders about the number of people experiencing homelessness in our community and the desire to provide an efficient and caring response, Homeward contracted with Housing Innovations of Columbus, Ohio, to review the homeless system in Polk County, Iowa. The resulting analysis helps the community understand what new resources, programming and service strategies are necessary to provide a robust response to meet the forecasted number of households we expect to enter the homelessness system. The report also made recommendations to improve Centralized Intake, a local service sometimes referred to as “the front door” of the community’s homelessness response.

The Iowa Association of Realtors provides a comprehensive overview of what's happening in Iowa's residential real estate market. Especially if your interest is in single family homes, you'll find useful data about prices, inventory, sales trends, and more.

Housing markets in the Midwest have tipped into undersupply, bringing consequences previously reserved for coastal markets closer to home.

A high quality overview of State of Iowa housing programs produced by the Legislative Services Agency in late 2022.

MIT uses data about typical household expenses in an area to calculate a living wage - the amount of money a person needs to earn to fully support his or herself and their family. Calculations are available for counties, metro areas, or states. You are able to see a variety of houeshold configurations, such as how the situation changes for a single adult living alone, versus a single parent or dual-income earning household.

The National Housing Preservation Database provides some of the best available data about the nation's supply of income restricted/affordable housing that receives federal government support.

Updated annually, the headline number from Out of Reach is always the estimate of the hourly wage a person needs to earn in order to afford a modest 2 bedroom apartment. This year, for Iowa as a whole, it's $16.55/hour. 

But the data in this report goes deeper-our state profile allows you to see which common occupations in Iowa earn enough to comfortably afford housing, and which dont.  The upshot? Tens of thousands of jobs in Iowa do not support finding a place to live without financial strain.

Learn about barriers to equitable housing in our region, and strategies for reducing them.

The Cost of Living in Iowa report is similar to the MIT Living Wage Calculator but is produced by an Iowa-based nonprofit, Common Good Iowa. An advantage this report has over others, however, is its estimate of the tax burden and benefits Iowa families would receive.

The report examines the current state of low-income students in Polk County, Iowa. It finds that there is a significant achievement gap between students who qualify for Free and Reduced Priced Lunch (F/R PL) and those who do not. The report also finds that there is a significant difference in academic performance between the Des Moines Public Schools and the surrounding suburban school districts. The report proposes inclusionary zoning as a possible solution to this problem. Inclusionary zoning would require developers to include a certain percentage of affordable housing units in new developments. The report also discusses other possible solutions, such as investing in underprivileged schools and providing rental assistance to low-income families.

Access to quality, affordable housing powers our region's economy.