Research and Information Archives

For more than four decades HAC has analyzed rural housing markets and disseminated information on housing conditions and characteristics for low-income rural Americans. To improve living conditions in rural areas, housing providers, policymakers and the public need access to reliable information and data. Through HAC’s newsletter, magazines, issue summaries, and library of more than 150 studies and reports on housing issues in rural America, HAC’s research and information constantly evolves to keep partners and policy makers informed.

Creating A Better Understanding of Farmworker Communities and Their Housing Conditions

May 12, 2024/in Information Products, Research and Information, Rural Research Briefs Farmworkers, Rural Demographics, Vulnerable Populations

Farmworker Dynamics Have Shifted Over the Last Few Decades

U.S. agriculture, a multibillion-dollar industry, has been made possible by cheap farmworker labor. As one of the most impoverished groups in the nation, farmworkers earn low wages and experience working conditions that hinder their ability to access affordable housing. This situation is further exacerbated by many legal, cultural, and geographic circumstances that often keep this population in the shadows of American society and contribute to their economic marginalization.

The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) has undertaken a review of U.S. farmworkers and their housing to provide a deeper understanding of these individuals, their historical impact, and their quality of life within this country.

Download the Report

HAC FW Rural Research Brief_Final_4.30.24

Taking Stock of Rural America

October 26, 2023/in Information Products, News, Research and Information, Rural Research Briefs, Rural Research Reports Economic Development, High Need Regions, Rural Data, Rural Demographics, Vulnerable Populations, What is Rural

5 DECADES OF TAKING STOCK IN RURAL AMERICA

RURAL PEOPLE, RURAL PLACES, RURAL HOUSING

First published in 1984, Taking Stock is a decennial research publication of the Housing Assistance Council. The 2023 edition of Taking Stock continues this legacy of presenting social, economic, and housing trends for rural places and rural people.

Visit TakingStockRural.org

In the early 1980s, the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) published its initial Taking Stock report. This seminal work was one of the first comprehensive assessments of rural housing and rural poverty conditions in the United States. The first Taking Stock also exposed the plight and housing need of the nation’s high poverty rural areas. HAC’s decennial Taking Stock analysis continued in 1990, 2000, and 2010 and has increasingly expanded to cover a broader scope of social, economic, and housing trends in rural areas. The 2023 edition of Taking Stock continues its legacy of presenting a composite picture of trends and issues important to rural people, places, and housing.

Housing Assistance Council

Rural America is More Diverse Than You Think

June 4, 2021/in Infographics, Information Products, Research and Information Native American, Persistent Poverty, Rural Demographics, Vulnerable Populations