Homeownership in the U.S. hasn't been this low since 1967. According to the Census Bureau, U.S. homeownership is now at 63.4 percent, 0.3 points lower than the previous quarter. In Washington, D.C., homeownership has similarly declined with 72 percent of high-income residents and 19 percent of low-income residents owning homes in 2014, in comparison to 77 percent and 31 percent owning homes in 2001, respectively. The drop in numbers shouldn't be surprising as D.C. homes are selling an average of more than three times the price of 2001, as reported by the D.C. Office of Revenue Analysis. Renting isn't much easier as Washington, D.C. has the fifth highest rents in the nation. To see how homeowners and renters are distributed throughout the U.S., Journalist and Web Developer Ken Shwencke created an interactive map, titled "Where the Renters Are," with data from the 2013 American Community Survey. According to City Lab, each dot represents 25 housing units with blue dots representing homeowners and red dots representing renters. Not surprisingly, the majority of buyers and renters in the D.C. area are located in downtown D.C. Past D.C. proper, there are way fewer renters in comparison to homebuyers. Below, Curbed takes a closer look at the map to see how residents in Washington, D.C. were distributed in 2013.
In the Northwest edge between Washington, D.C. and Maryland, the majority of renters are found in downtown Silver Spring, Bethesda, and Friendship Heights. Inside D.C. proper, there is a higher number of homeowners in comparison to renters.
In the Northeast edge between Washington, D.C. and Maryland, there are more homebuyers than renters in D.C. proper, while on the Maryland side, there are more renters than homebuyers.
In Arlington, the majority of renters are found in Court House, Virginia Square, and Pentagon City.
East of the Anacostia River, the majority of renters and homebuyers are closest to the waterfront. The further Southeast one goes, the higher the number of homeowners and the lower the number of renters.
· Mapping America's Renters [City Lab]
· Where the renters are [OpenStreetMap]
· D.C. home prices tripled in 15 years, squeezing low-income residents [The Washington Post]
· Over past decade, share of low-income households has decreased in neighborhoods close to downtown [District, Measured]
· Homeownership rate drops to 48-year low [Housing Wire]
· Coverage on renting and homebuying in Washington, D.C. [Curbed DC]