April 15, 2021
By Bina Patel Shrimali and Jackelyn Hwang
Housing costs in the Bay Area have consistently been among the highest in the country, placing a heavy burden on the region’s low- and moderate-income people. In our recent report, we examine the moves of individuals in the region over time from 2002–2018, so we could better understand moving patterns by socioeconomic status (SES) due to housing unaffordability and gentrification.
Employing data on mobility from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Consumer Credit Panel/Equifax Data, we found that low- and moderate-SES residents in the Bay Area have faced complex tradeoffs related to their housing. These findings have implications for equitable recovery in the region as we begin to emerge from the pandemic-induced recession.