A Look Back at Our April 2023 Waitlist Opening
Hours before the waitlist application window opened on Monday, April 7th at 9 AM, dozens of people lined up outside THA’s main offices along South L Street. By the time the waitlist closed two weeks later, 15,494 households made up of 36,222 individuals had applied for a chance at one of only 1,825 spots on the low-income housing waitlist.
From April 3-17, the waitlist was open to households of all sizes for the first time since 2015, and the applications offer a look at the scale and scope of the need in our community.
At a Glance
- 15,494 completed applications
- 36,222 people in households
- 37.5 years is the median age of the head of household
- $11,280 is the median household income
Household Size
| Household Size | Applicants |
|---|---|
| 1 | 6,482 (41.8%) |
| 2 | 3,496 (22.6%) |
| 3 | 2,361 (15.2%) |
| 4 | 1,550 (10.0%) |
| 5 | 793 (5.1%) |
| 6+ | 812 (5.2%) |
Household Income
| AMI Bucket | Applicants |
|---|---|
| Extremely Low Income (0-30% AMI) | 11,575 (74.7%) |
| Very Low Income (30-60% AMI) | 3,412 (22.0%) |
| Low Income (60-80% AMI) | 367 (2.4%) |
| Not Low Income (80%+ AMI) | 140 (0.9%) |
More about income buckets
Households with Children
| Children | Applicants |
|---|---|
| Children | 7,836 (50.7%) |
| No Children | 7,623 (49.3%) |
Where Applicants Stayed the Previous Night
| Where Did You Stay Last Night? | Applicants |
|---|---|
| In a house or apartment I rent | 6,044 (39.0%) |
| With a family member or friend | 4,453 (28.7%) |
| In a place not meant for people to live (like a car, abandoned building, bus/train station, or anywhere outside) | 2,157 (13.9%) |
| In an Emergency Shelter or Transitional Housing (including a motel or hotel paid for with emergency shelter funds) | 1,158 (7.5%) |
| Other | 1,052 (6.8%) |
| In a hotel or motel not paid for with emergency shelter funds | 301 (1.9%) |
| Decline to answer | 281 (1.8%) |
| In a home I own | 48 (0.3%) |
Geography
Not all waitlist applicants currently live within the Greater Tacoma Area. Although most applicants live in Pierce County, nearly 31% (4,795) of applicants reported living in other counties throughout Washington State, and 8% of applicants (1,259) live in different states across the country.
| Location | Applicants |
|---|---|
| Tacoma | 6,163 (39.8%) |
| Pierce County (outside Tacoma) | 3,277 (21.2%) |
| WA State (outside Pierce County) | 4,795 (30.9%) |
| Outsde WA State | 1,259 (8.1%) |
| County | Count | % of US Total Outside WA State |
|---|---|---|
| King | 3,737 | 79.4% |
| Thurston | 322 | 6.8% |
| Snohomish | 191 | 4.1% |
| Kitsap | 142 | 3.0% |
| Unknown WA County | 123 | 2.6% |
| Clark | 37 | 0.8% |
| Lewis | 33 | 0.7% |
| Spokane | 31 | 0.7% |
| Mason | 28 | 0.6% |
| Grays Harbor | 26 | 0.6% |
| Yakima | 18 | 0.4% |
| Island | 10 | 0.2% |
| Cowlitz | 10 | 0.2% |
Head of Household
The heads of households who applied to the waitlist reported their language preference, race, ethnicity, sex, disability and veteran status.
Preferred Language
| Preferred Language | Applicants |
|---|---|
| English | 13,947 (90.02%) |
| English and 1+ other languages | 584 (3.77%) |
| Other languages | 963 (6.22%) |
| Language | Heads of Household |
|---|---|
| Ukrainian | 293 (1.89%) |
| Russian | 248 (1.60%) |
| Spanish | 224 (1.45%) |
| Dari | 127 (0.82%) |
| Korean | 83 (0.54%) |
| Arabic | 76 (0.49%) |
| Samoan | 76 (0.49%) |
| Marshallese | 65 (0.42%) |
| Pashto | 61 (0.40%) |
| Khmer | 60 (0.39%) |
| Somali | 58 (0.37%) |
| Vietnamese | 57 (0.37%) |
| Farsi | 55 (0.35%) |
| Tagalog | 18 (0.12%) |
| Tigrinya | 17 (0.11%) |
Sex
| Sex | Heads of Household |
|---|---|
| Female | 10,736 (69.3%) |
| Male | 4,669 (30.1%) |
| Prefer Not to Answer | 89 (0.6%) |
Disability Status
| Disability Status | Heads of Household |
|---|---|
| Disabled | 5,859 (37.8%) |
| Not Disabled | 9,635 (62.2%) |
Veteran Status
| Veteran Status | Heads of Household |
|---|---|
| Veteran | 507 (3.3%) |
| Not a Veteran | 14,987 (96.7%) |
Race & Ethnicity
The demographic information regarding race and ethnicity was compared to City of Tacoma data, indicated in orange.
Race
| Race | Heads of Household | City of Tacoma average |
|---|---|---|
| White | 5,308 34.2% | 61.9% |
| Black or African American | 5,012 32.3% | 10.8% |
| Two or more races | 1,487 9.6% | 11.7% |
| Some other race | 1,213 7.8% | 4.0% |
| Asian | 885 5.7% | 8.8% |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 669 4.3% | 1.0% |
| Declined to answer | 581 3.7% | — |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 345 2.2% | 1.9% |
Ethnicity
| Ethnicity | Heads of Household | City of Tacoma Average |
|---|---|---|
| Not Hispanic or Latino | 13,556 (87.5%) | 87.8% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 1452 (9.4%) | 12.2% |
| Declined to Answer | 486 (3.1%) | — |
Related:
- 36K applied for help from Tacoma Housing Authority. Here’s how many got on waiting list | Tacoma News Tribune