“Area Median Income” doesn’t match our incomes.
We need truly affordable housing that actually matches need.

Affordable housing programs in Boston are based on “area median income,” or AMI, which measures a typical household income in a large area around Boston. Instead of looking at what Boston households actually make, this measure includes incomes from all around the region, including Brookline, Newton, and even part of New Hampshire. Using all these wealthy cities to calculate the AMI gives an income of $163,200 for a household of 4. Most households in Boston make nowhere near that amount – the median family income for this region is 32% higher than the median family income in Boston! 

In order to adjust for different incomes, policymakers look at AMI levels, also known as percentage of AMI, but even these levels often build “affordable” housing that our communities can’t afford. Here are two visual aides for translating between AMI levels and incomes so you can better understand how these policies work. 

The first diagram below shows what different income levels from 30% AMI to 100% AMI look like for an individual, and for a household or family of 4. For example, a household of 4 that makes $60,000 a year would fall between 30% AMI (which is $48,960 for a household of 4) and 40% AMI (which is $65,280 for a household of 4). 

Alternatively, the below chart from the Boston Planning Department's website gives a more thorough way of looking up income levels and AMIs. Think about a household you know — maybe it’s one person, or maybe it’s a family with a few children. For example, say there is a household with two parents and two children which has an income of $60,000 a year. Then: 

Count the number of people in that household and find that number on the left side of the chart below “HH size.” For our example, we would look in the row labeled 4 under HH Size. 

Go across the row and find where the household income falls, in between two of the numbers in that row. For our example, $60,000 is in between $48,960 and $65,280. 

After finding where the income is in that row, look at the top of the columns to figure out the AMI. For our example, $48,960 is in the 30% AMI column, and $65,280 is in the 40% AMI column. So our family makes between 30% and 40% AMI.