SSI Recipients Can’t Afford Housing Anywhere In The US
by Michelle Diament
Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries receive too little each month to reasonably afford apartment rent in any housing market across the nation, a new report shows.
Nationally, the average rent for a basic studio or one-bedroom apartment exceeds the average SSI payment of $983 per month.
Even in the cheapest rental market in the country — Dallas County, Mo. — rent for either a one-bedroom or efficiency would require 64% of a person’s monthly SSI payment.
The findings are outlined in a new report called Priced Out that’s regularly updated by the Technical Assistance Collaborative, a nonprofit focused on housing issues among people with disabilities, and the Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities, a coalition of disability advocacy organizations.
“With the latest data from several federal sources compiled at the end of 2023, it is unfortunately clear that yet again, the 4.1 million people with disabilities ages 18 to 64 who receive SSI cannot afford an apartment in any housing market in the United States without additional support,” Lisa Sloane, a director at the Technical Assistance Collaborative, wrote in a posting about the findings. “Because there is neither enough affordable housing nor sufficient access to rental assistance, many of these people find themselves homeless, at ongoing risk of homelessness, living in segregated institutions, or incarcerated.”
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