Kansas Federal Rental Assistance Facts
About 32 percent of all Kansas households – or 356,221 households – are renters. Federal rental
assistance programs enable more than 36,212 low-income households in Kansas to rent modest
housing at an affordable cost. About 65 percent of these households are headed by people who are
elderly or have disabilities; approximately 24 percent are families with children.
Yet federal programs reach only a small share of the low-income Kansas households that pay
unaffordable rental housing costs and are therefore at increased risk of homelessness and other
types of housing instability:
In Kansas, 72,241 low-income renter households pay more than half their monthly cash income
for housing costs. On average, these households have incomes of $833 and pay housing costs
of $730, leaving only $103 to pay for other necessities. About 39 percent of these cost-
burdened renters are elderly or people with disabilities, while 24 percent are families with
children.
When housing costs consume more than half of household income, low-income families are at
greater risk of becoming homeless. Point-in-time surveys suggest that at least 1,892 people are
homeless in Kansas.
Federal Rental Assistance in Kansas
Percent Percent
Number of Extremely Percent Percent Families
Program
Units Low Elderly Disabled with
Income Children
Housing Choice Vouchers 10,943 75% 16% 37% 39%
Public Housing 9,151 64% 35% 27% 24%
Section 8 Project-Based Rental Asst. 11,407 64% 49% 25% 20%
Supportive Housing for Elderly and
920 NA 77% 23% 0%
People with Disabilities (202/811)
RAP/Rent Supplement 33 NA 30% 10% 45%
Section 8 Moderate Rehab. 0 NA NA NA NA
USDA Section 521 Rental Asst. 3,744 NA 75% NA NA
Total 36,212 NA 39% 26% 24%
Characteristics Of Low-Income Renters With Unaffordable Housing Costs In Kansas, 2009
Percent Percent
Number of Extremely Percent Percent Families
Households Low Elderly Disabled with
Income Children
Housing costs greater than 30%
137,506 53% 19% 20% 25%
of income
Housing costs greater than 50%
72,241 76% 17% 22% 24%
of income
See http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3464 for explanation of data sources used in this table.