• Reports

2024 Rental Housing Needs Assessment

December 2024

This is an updated version of the 2023 report.

A city’s housing market is a result of a confluence of factors: regional economic opportunity, existing housing supply, migration patterns, historic inequities, macroeconomic trends, and household preferences, among others. Addressing housing goals can mean different things for different residents: building affordable housing, preventing displacement, creating homeownership opportunities, or repairing dilapidated housing stock.

In Dallas, addressing the needs of renters, who often face higher poverty rates and cost burdens, is crucial to foster a more equitable and inclusive community. Prioritizing affordable rental options can support lower-income households, essential workers, and homelessness prevention. This report focuses on the rental housing needs for the City of Dallas’ residents, with an emphasis on low-income households.

Homeownership opportunities and rental affordability are often linked—in Dallas, trends suggest that moderate and high-income renters who are unable to afford homes are bidding up rents for lower-income residents. Homeownership can be an important wealth-building tool and long-term stabilizer for families. Subsequent CPAL projects will significantly focus on homeownership opportunities.

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  • An Underutilized Housing Affordability Tool: Homestead Exemptions

    CPAL examines homestead exemption access in Dallas County — who’s claiming, who isn’t, and how much money eligible homeowners could realize if they claimed this benefit.

    • ~57K residential properties in Dallas County may be eligible for the homestead exemption but have not yet claimed it, for an estimated total benefit of ~$310M.
    • ~40K properties in low-income and very low-income census tracts in Dallas County may be eligible for the homestead exemption but have not yet claimed it, for an estimated total benefit of ~$200M, or ~$5,000 per household.
    • While an estimated 95% of eligible households in high-income census tracts claim their homestead exemption, only 81% of households in very low-income census tracts claim their homestead exemption.
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  • 2025 Rental Housing Needs Assessment

    The 2025 Rental Housing Needs Assessment establishes a shared fact base on rental affordability, supply, and opportunity in the City of Dallas.

    • Dallas faces a 46,000-unit shortage of rental homes affordable to very low-income households earning ≤50% of Area Median Income (AMI). Since CPAL first published this report in 2023, the gap has grown by more than 12,000 units.
    • Between 2021 and 2023, the number of rental units priced below $1,000 per month was cut in half — a loss of over 50,000 units. Today, 90% of affordable units for low-income renters are unsubsidized and vulnerable to market pressures.
    • Half of all renters spend more than 30% of their income on housing, including 75% of single parents with children and 65% of senior renters. Extremely low-income renters spend, on average, 78% of their income on housing, leaving little room for other necessities.
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  • Housing Remediation as an Effective Intervention for Pediatric Asthma

    This issue-brief describes the impacts of asthma in Dallas and how home repair can better asthma outcomes, increase economic mobility, and improve the quality of life for children across Dallas.

    • Asthma is a leading cause of school absenteeism and is costly. In 2023, Dallas County children experienced 1,036 asthma inpatient hospital visits. The combined costs of these visits were ~$10.3M, for an average cost of $9,966 per visit. 
    • The Green and Healthy Homes Initiative estimates that 40% of all asthma episodes are caused by preventable home-based asthma allergens, like dust, pests, and mold.
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