About Us

Coalitions: Charlotte

Charlotte is a fast-paced city that is growing and changing rapidly. In 2004, Charlotte area residents needed 23,766 units of affordable homes, but only 12,493 units were supplied — a shortage of 11,273 units. That shortage is expected to increase in the coming years, reaching a predicted 16,683 affordable units in 2010.

The Current Perspective

"Since 2002, the city has spent more than $45 million to encourage developers to build affordable housing. Still, a recent city report shows that nearly half of renters in Charlotte-Mecklenburg face housing costs the federal government considers unacceptably high, and the number has grown since 2002."

- The Charlotte Observer, March 19, 2008

Charlotte Resident Speaks Out

"I'm stuck. I've been here 20 years, and I'm 40-something years old. I've raised two children. My son is 26. I have a daughter who's 18. I have two grandchildren now. And here I'm still stuck in an apartment. I want to have a home for these kids. I'm a nurse. I've been a nurse for 20 years. I have a good job. I go to work every day, but I still can't afford a house, and that's really sad to me. I feel stuck, but, you know, I push hard..."

- Nurse, Charlotte Resident

Fast Facts on the Problem

Despite the slowing real estate market, Charlotte home prices increased by 4 percent from the first quarter 2007 to the first quarter 2008, making 54 percent of the homes on the market unaffordable to households earning less than 120 percent of median household income.
Between 2000 and 2005, the price of the average single-family home jumped 20 percent. During that same time, the area's median income rose only 8 percent.
From 1990 to 2000, the number of non-county residents commuting to Mecklenburg for work increased by 43 percent. Almost 1 in 3 Mecklenburg jobs are now held by non-county residents. Commuting times have increased more than 20 percent in the last decade.

Affordability Gap

The affordability gap in Charlotte is growing. Many median-income families — particularly those headed by workers in the hospitality and retail fields, who support Charlotte's booming tourism industry — cannot afford a home near their workplaces.

Median home price: $192,700
Salary needed to afford median-priced home: $55,622

Average dietitian salary: $47,030
Average firefighter salary: $37,730
Average librarian salary: $48,940
Average lodging manager salary: $44,310
Average paralegal salary: $39,530
Average reporter salary: $44,350
Average retail manager salary: $36,680
Average kindergarten teacher salary: $37,860

Our Efforts

Homes for Working Families is working closely with Housing Charlotte 2007, a consortium of local leaders who came together earlier this year to develop a set of policy recommendations that can alleviate the housing crunch in Charlotte. Specifically, we are working with them to address the home affordability challenge affecting moderate-income families.

Simultaneously, we are assembling a coalition that includes Charlotte-area business, civic and community leaders. Once the coalition is assembled, Homes for Working Families staff in Charlotte and in Washington, D.C., will help coalition members to promote policy initiatives that make homes more affordable to working families.

We also are commissioning research to define, in greater detail, the scope of the affordability problem in Charlotte.