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Housing Characteristics

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Housing Characteristics

Key Facts Housing

Foreign born headed households, especially those on the lower end of the income spectrum have significantly larger household sizes than U.S. born headed households.

COVID-19
More occupants per household present opportunities for transmission of COVID-19 among members within that household since COVID-19 is spread through close contact.

Housing instability from the pandemic requires a very proactive role from local communities.

2014 to 2018 Five-Year Estimates

Key Facts:

  • Foreign born headed households, in general, are larger than U.S. Born headed households in Northern Virginia and its localities.  Northern Virginia has a foreign born average household size of 3.22, while U.S. born headed is 2.39.

  • The gap between the foreign born and U.S. born average household size in Northern Virginia shrinks with each higher income quintile, almost reaching parity at the top among the highest income households.  The lowest income quintile has a gap of 0.9 persons per household, while the highest income quintile has a gap of 0.2 persons per household.

  • The housing tenure of the foreign born in Northern Virginia is 58 percent owner and 42 percent renter.  This distribution varies widely by locality.  The innermost, urban localities of Arlington and Alexandria have a higher rate of renters than the outer, suburban localities.

  • The housing type of the foreign born in Northern Virginia is 60.5 percent single-family, 37.5 percent multi-family, and 2.0 percent other.  This distribution varies widely by locality.  The innermost, urban localities of Alexandria and Arlington have a majority residing in multi-family and the outer, suburban localities have a majority residing in single-family.

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