Every year, the National Low Income Housing Coalition releases a report called Out of Reach. This report shows what it costs to rent a modest two bedroom apartment in every state, and shows what a renter would have to earn to afford an apartment at Fair Market Rent. 

This year, we’ve asked a few of our state partners to tell us how they use Out of Reach in their advocacy. This post is from Carley Ruff, Policy and Outreach Coordinator at the North Carolina Housing Coalition.

NLIHC’s Out of Reach Report is an invaluable tool for the North Carolina Housing Coalition. We use the data in nearly every aspect of our work.

When giving presentations throughout North Carolina, Out of Reach allows us not only to give a state level analysis of housing costs and challenges, it also enables us to highlight data on the specific town or metropolitan area where we are presenting.   We include Out of Reach figures and data in the publications that we create and disseminate, such as our NC Affordable Housing Primer and NC Housing Communications Manual.  We often use information from the Report in our media outreach through op-eds, press releases, etc.

In our state level advocacy, we can educate our elected officials on the housing challenges and disparities that exist in the counties they represent.

At the NC Housing Coalition, our mission is to lead a campaign for housing that ensures working families, people in crisis, seniors and persons with disabilities may live with dignity and opportunity.  The Out of Reach Report strengthens our organization’s message by shedding light on the housing affordability gap though clear, reliable and compelling data.

How do you plan to use Out of Reach this year? Let us know in the comments!