A study by NAHB investigates housing affordability for four occupations - teachers, police officers, nurses, and retail sales persons - in the 25 largest metro areas in the United States. Using data from the 2000 Census, the study looks at which census tracts (areas designed by the U.S. Census Bureau to capture having approximately 5,000 relativey homogeneous residents) are affordable and unaffordable to households supported by someone working in a particular profession.

 

In some cases, the number of affordable census tracts is very small. In others, the affordable tracts are restricted to particular sections of the metro areas, usually containing older homes.

 

Because of its size, the article is divided into five parts. The main text summarizes the results, explains the methodology, and gives examples. The appendices show affordability maps and summary statistics in each metro area for each of the four selected professions: