{"id":154782,"date":"2026-02-13T20:29:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T20:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/154782\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T20:29:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T20:29:07","slug":"jacksonville-ramps-up-affordable-housing-construction-but-the-city-is-still-50000-units-short","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/154782\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville ramps up affordable housing construction, but the city is still 50,000 units short"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Jacksonville has made measurable gains in affordable housing<\/a> construction in recent years, but city leaders said the pace still falls short of what\u2019s needed to keep up with rapid population growth.<\/p>\n

New data from RentCafe.com<\/a> shows that roughly 1 in every 15 apartments built in the Jacksonville metro over the past five years qualifies as affordable, reflecting a significant increase in income-restricted housing compared with the pre-pandemic period.<\/p>\n

Between 2020 and 2024, developers completed 1,832 affordable apartments in the metro area, an 80% increase from the previous five-year period. That growth places Jacksonville fourth statewide for affordable housing construction, behind Miami, Tampa Bay and the Southwest Florida Coast.<\/p>\n

New affordable apartment construction across Florida. (Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

Despite the progress, affordable units still account for just about 7% of all new apartment construction, highlighting the continued imbalance between supply and demand.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single district in Jacksonville needs affordability and affordable housing,\u201d Joshua Hicks said, the city\u2019s affordable housing director.<\/p>\n

Hicks said confusion around what qualifies as \u201caffordable housing\u201d is one of the most common questions city officials hear from residents.<\/p>\n

What counts as \u201caffordable housing\u201d in Jacksonville?<\/p>\n

Affordable housing is generally defined as housing that costs no more than 30% of a household\u2019s gross income. Households paying more than that are considered cost-burdened.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt its simplest, affordable housing means you shouldn\u2019t be spending more than 30% of your income on housing,\u201d Hicks said. \u201cIf you\u2019re spending more than that, you\u2019re considered cost-burdened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eligibility is based on Area Median Income (AMI) and household size. For Duval County, the 2025 AMI is $102,500 for a family of four, according to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation.<\/p>\n

80% of AMI (moderate-income affordable housing):<\/p>\n

1 person: $57,400<\/p>\n

2 people: $65,600<\/p>\n

3 people: $73,840<\/p>\n

4 people: $82,000<\/p>\n

30% of AMI (deeply affordable housing):<\/p>\n

1 person: $21,550<\/p>\n

2 people: $24,600<\/p>\n

3 people: $27,690<\/p>\n

4 people: $30,750<\/p>\n

Eligibility for affordable housing is based on area median income, or AMI, and household size. In Jacksonville, a single person earning $57,440 a year, or 80% of AMI, would qualify for certain affordable housing programs, according to city data.<\/p>\n

Hicks said affordability is not a one-size-fits-all concept.<\/p>\n

\u201cAffordable housing means what\u2019s affordable for you,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone has different incomes and different situations. What might be affordable for me might not be affordable for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city focuses much of its development on housing for households earning between 30% and 80% of AMI, where officials say the largest gaps exist.<\/p>\n

Residents can track affordable housing projects and progress through the city\u2019s online housing dashboard<\/a>, which maps developments and outlines income thresholds.<\/p>\n

Even with recent gains, city leaders say Jacksonville remains far behind where it needs to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re about 50,000 units short of where we should be,\u201d Hicks said. \u201cWe\u2019re growing rapidly, and there\u2019s never a point where the job is done.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2025, Jacksonville added about 1,200 affordable housing units, and the city is on track to add more in 2026, according to Hicks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to continue to be mindful that everyone deserves a roof over their head,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone deserves a place to sleep. Building housing supply is how we keep people housed and address affordability across Jacksonville.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Jacksonville has made measurable gains in affordable housing construction in recent years, but city leaders…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154783,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[15852,1571,1039,116,118,117],"class_list":{"0":"post-154782","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-addressing-a4dability","9":"tag-affordable-housing","10":"tag-duval-county","11":"tag-jacksonville","12":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","13":"tag-jacksonville-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}