Emergency Rental Assistance

68% of Emergency Rental Assistance funds have been distributed to renters across the South, compared to 75% in non-Southern states.

Percent of Emergency Rental Assistance funds distributed

Jan 1, 2021 - Jun 30, 2022

Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury. Notes: Assistance to households is the total dollar amount of ERA1 and ERA2 award funds paid to or for households, including payments for rent, rental arrears, utility/home energy costs, utility/home energy arrears, and other eligible expenses. "Percent distributed" is calculated as the sum of assistance to households divided by 90% of the ERA1 and ERA2 allocation amount.

Though the economy now offers more jobs than before Covid, the median monthly rent in the U.S. exceeded $2,000 for the first time in May 2022.¹ Workers would need a salary of $80,000 annually to afford $2,000 per month in rent.²

The Covid recovery bills included a combined $45 billion in Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) funds.³ Many Southern states have been slow to distribute these funds, including Alabama and Tennessee where only 41% of ERA funds have been spent, Arkansas where only 43% has been spent, and Georgia where only only 46% has been spent. The Governor of Arkansas actually declined some of the ERA funds available to Arkansas, claiming that the economy was strong enough such that renters didn’t need assistance, despite evidence that Arkansas eviction rates in 2022 are higher than before the pandemic.⁴

An October 2021 Pew Research Center survey found that nearly half of all Americans feel a lack of affordable housing is a major problem in their community.⁵ Respondents to a November 2021 survey of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and New Orleans, Louisiana by the Southern Economic Advancement Project said affordable housing was their community’s greatest challenge.⁶

1. “Rental Market Tracker: Typical U.S. Asking Rent Surpassed $2,000 for First Time in May”. Ellis. Redfin News. June, 2022. https://www.redfin.com/news/redfin-rental-report-may-2022/ 

2. Department of Housing and Urban Development's defines a household that spends more than 30% of their pre-tax income on rent and utilities as "housing cost burdened"

3. “Treasury Announces $30 Billion in Emergency Rental Assistance Spent or Obligated with Over 4.7 Million Payments Made to Households Through February 2022”. U.S. Department of the Treasury. March, 2022. https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0688

4. “Arkansas’ eviction rate in 2022 is highest in 5 years, data show”. Moss, Vrbin. Arkansas Democrat Gazette. May, 2022. https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/may/22/arkansas-eviction-rate-in-2022-is-highest-in-5/

5. “Americans Are Less Likely Than Before COVID-19 To Want To Live in Cities, More Likely To Prefer Suburbs”. Parker, Horowitz, and Minkin. Pew Research Center. December, 2021. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2021/12/16/americans-are-less-likely-than-before-covid-19-to-want-to-live-in-cities-more-likely-to-prefer-suburbs/#rising-share-of-americans-say-availability-of-affordable-housing-is-a-major-problem-in-their-area

6. “Two years into the pandemic, Southern families’ struggle with housing weighs heavy as lawmakers begin ARP spending plans”. The Southern Economic Advancement Project. March, 2022. https://theseap.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/ARP-Survey-Release_March_2022.pdf