3 ms·

I have a feeling you're right considering the Mission district is also in his results, and at ~2800 for a one bedroom it is one of the most expensive neighborho

• _delirium 12y ago
  I think part of the problem is that he's using median income for the census tract, not a measure of housing cost. The assumption seems to be that a census tract with a median income similar to his will be affordable for him. But there are many reasons that might not be the case. Some off the top of my head: presence of asset-rich but income-poor retirees with paid-off mortgages; longer-term residents grandfathered in to a gentrified area via rent control or other stabilization measures; presence of university students, who tend to both have spending power out of line with their actual income (due to family, loans, etc.) and access to dorm housing; bimodal distributions where a moderate median hides a neighborhood that's half unaffordable and half a ghetto; people with employer-subsidized housing (faculty housing, military housing); etc. Other income-based measures might give a better idea, though. Median income of working-age adults who've lived there <5 yrs could give an idea of what people who've recently made a similar move make.