“Bay Area Burden,” a new report released last week by the Urban Land Institute Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing, finds that the average Bay Area household spends more than $41,000 a year — nearly 60% of their income — on transportation and housing costs alone.
These costs vary among the nine Bay Area counties examined, ranging from 54% in Santa Clara to 66% in Sonoma. But the study finds that one-fourth of all households in the Bay Area live in neighborhoods where housing and transportation costs account for 65% or more of income — a level defined as an extreme housing and transportation cost burden.