Regional Housing Needs Allocation    RHNA

It is estimated that California needs 3.5 million more housing units to accommodate the people living in our state. Each city in the Bay Area was given the number of units in each of four income levels as their goal for this RHNA cycle which is from 2023-2031. These were provided by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), our regional group responsible for assessing the demographics and dividing the housing needs among the cities. Dividing the goals among the four income groups helps make the plan equitable and meet the needs of our diverse population.

Each municipality is required to develop a plan to detail where and how the housing goals intend to be met in a document called the Housing Element. The Area Median Income for a family of four is $151,300. In the past, economists recommended not spending more than 30% of income on housing but the average in the Bay Area is higher.