This figure indicates how affordable housing is for renters. The federal Housing and Urban Development Department guideline for affordability is that rent should consume no more than 30% of household income.

In 2015-19, median rent in the region was 33% of median household income, in line with the national proportion of 31% and the statewide proportion of 35%. Among individual counties, Wyoming had the most affordable ratio (24%), while Livingston and Monroe were the least affordable (both at 35%). The City of Rochester (39%) was less affordable than any county in the region, the overall region, the state and the nation. This partly reflected the City's relatively low median income ($35,600 compared to $59,900 for the region) and comparatively high median monthly rent ($850, similar to $880 for the region).

From 2000 to 2015-19, housing became less affordable for almost every county in the region, with Livingston having the greatest increase in its ratio (6 percentage points) while Wyoming and Seneca had little or no change over that timeframe. In comparison, the state increased by 7 points and the nation by 5 points over the same period.

Multi-year figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined five years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census. Data for this indicator are expected to be released in the fourth quarter.