Charlottesville is experiencing an affordable housing crisis. Housing costs are too high for many renters to afford, averaging $1384 per month in the so-called competitive complexes. Since 2012, the cost of housing in Charlottesville has risen by an average of five percent (5%) per year. Families who have lived in their neighborhoods for generations are being pushed out by luxury housing complexes and new businesses. This report demonstrates that these changes hurt Black communities the most. The City of Charlottesville has found that more than 3,300 households in the City have unmet housing needs. Similarly, the 2018 Orange Dot report found that a family of three, comprised of one parent and two children, needs to earn at least $45,184.02 each year to live in Charlottesville. A full-time worker making minimum wage in Charlottesville, however, will earn only $15,080 each year, not enough to cover even his or her housing costs. In fact, a shocking twenty-five percent (25%) of Charlottesville families do not earn enough to meet the costs of living and working. With workers in Charlottesville receiving too little pay and the price of housing skyrocketing, affordable and decent housing remains out of reach for many residents, especially for Black communities.    

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