HUD and DOT Unveil New Housing and Transportation Cost Calculator - November 13, 2013

On November 12, the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx  announced the release of the Location Affordability Portal (LAP), a cost calculation tool that allows users to estimate housing and transportation costs for neighborhoods across the country. The LAP will help consumers and communities better understand the combined costs of housing and transportation associated with living in a specific region, street, or neighborhood and make better-informed decisions about where to live, work, and invest.

The LAP hosts two data tools:

• the Location Affordability Index (LAI) is a map-based database of predicted annual housing and transportation costs for a particular area.  The LAI presents data in terms of eight different household types--each characterized by family size, household income and number of commuters—and shows the affordability landscape for each one across an entire region.  It can help renters and homeowners, as well as planners, policymakers, developers, and researchers, get a more complete understanding of the costs of living in a location given the differences between households, neighborhoods, and regions, all of which impact affordability. The data covers 94% of the U.S. population.
• the My Transportation Cost Calculator (MTCC) allows users to customize data for their own household and potential residential locations.  Users enter basic information about their income, housing, cars, and travel patterns.