Boulder County toughest rental market

BOULDER – Boulder County is the toughest market in Colorado for low-income families in need of affordable rental units, and it has the highest percentage of “rent-burdened” households in the state, according to a report released Monday by the Colorado Division of Housing.

The study, which relies on U.S. Census Bureau data collected from 2006 to 2010, is a comprehensive overview of the availability and affordability of rental units in Colorado. The division conducts the survey in order to determine the state of the market and where it should allocate its resources, spokesman Ryan McMaken said.

The report defines a “rent burdened” household as one that pays 30 percent or more of its income in rent, and it finds 55.8 percent of households that rent in Boulder County exceed that threshold. The percentage for metro Denver, which includes Broomfield County, is 48.1 percent, and the state rate is 47.9 percent.

It also found that 30.8 percent of renters in Boulder County pay 50 percent or more of their income in rent. The state figure is 24.1 percent.

Those figures typically indicate low-income renters are being hit hard by a lack of inventory and are forced to pay a disproportionately high percentage of their income in rent, and that likely is true in Boulder County, McMaken said. But the local numbers could be influenced by other factors.

Some renters could be willing to pay a premium to live in Boulder, he said.

“For those people who choose to do whatever it takes to live in Boulder, they’re going to pay a lot,” McMaken said.

Using the same 30 percent of income threshold as the definition of affordable, Boulder has the greatest shortage of affordable units for low- and middle- income households in the state. For every 100 households in Boulder making $35,000 per year, there are 78 units available. For every 100 households making $25,000 per year, there are 29 units available.

In Colorado, there are 107 and 70 units available at those income levels, respectively.