A recent article in the Wall Street Journal chronicled the lives of baby boomers living in Florida on Social Security and unable to secure affordable rental housing. They are rotating between “couch-surfing” at friends’ homes, living in their cars, or sleeping on the street. While the article cited several areas across the country where the percentage of homeless people over the age of 65 is growing rapidly, Miami-Dade County rose to the top. As of the end of 2022, it was reported that over 31% of people over the age of 65 were homeless.  

Rent Payments vs. Social Security Payments in Rockville

The most recent data from the Census’ American Community Survey (ACS) estimates that 12,000 people over the age of 65 live in Rockville (17% of the population). Of them, 7% or 840 people are living in poverty. As of February 2023, the average SSI check was $1,693 per month or $20,300 per year. It would not be a stretch to assume that most of these 840 people with annual incomes less than $25,000 are living off their Social Security benefits alone. 

So, what rent can you afford when your monthly income is $1,693? According to HUD, a household is considered burdened when they spend more than 30% of their income on housing and severely burdened when they spend more than 50% of their income on housing. Ideally, an individual in this case would want to spend no more than $510 per month on housing for it to be considered affordable.  As you can see in the map for Rockville, finding a place at a reasonable level of rent is highly unlikely (green is less than $510; orange or red exceeds $510 per month or 30% of the average Social Security monthly payment). The only neighborhoods that are affordable are College Square, Cambridge, and Heritage Park (in green; in addition there are several apartment buildings throughout the city that offer a limited number of affordable units).