TRUE Affordability Across Generations

What a household actually has left after housing, utilities, transport, care and the other costs of living here.

8 of 11 measures connected

In plain words

Can a household on an ordinary income actually afford to live here?

A rent figure alone does not say whether a household can afford to stay. The same rent is affordable to one household and not to another, and an area median income is a citywide average that few individual households resemble.

The figures to remember: 140%; of area median income — the income needed to buy the median home in the neighbourhood where that figure is lowest; From Assessor sales against HUD income limits
The figures to remember: 0; of 12 neighbourhoods where a household at the area median income can buy the median home; From Assessor sales against HUD income limits

-26.3% to +20.3%
Distance between a needs budget and a qualifying limit, of the published qualifying limit for that household size
Scenario— show source
Selected assumptions rather than a record of what happened. Excluded from factual totals.
Method: The range across the three published household archetypes of required annual income before taxes measured against the HUD 80% AMI limit for the nominally corresponding household size. Stated as a range because the sign of the answer changes between archetypes, and stated as a scenario because the comparability of the two household definitions and the two geographies is an assumption no publisher has made.

Required annual income, by household · 9 rows

US dollars per household per year · 9 households, ranked highest first

Required annual income, by household — US dollars per household per year, by household
household	US dollars per household per year
1 Adult, 1 Child — Required annual income before taxes	131,941
2 Adults (1 Working), 2 Children — Required annual income before taxes	114,125
1 Adult, 1 Child — Required annual income after taxes	104,264
2 Adults (1 Working), 2 Children — Required annual income after taxes	98,202
1 Adult, 0 Children — Required annual income before taxes	70,707
1 Adult, 0 Children — Required annual income after taxes	55,842
1 Adult, 1 Child — Annual taxes	27,678
2 Adults (1 Working), 2 Children — Annual taxes	15,924
1 Adult, 0 Children — Annual taxes	14,865

Fact— show source

Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

Living Wage Calculator — Middlesex County, Massachusetts · Living Wage Institute (hosted at livingwage.mit.edu) · Typical Annual Expenses, by household composition · recorded February 15, 2026 · verified August 17, 2026

Measures

About these measures, and what they refuse to add up

This tracker asks what it actually costs a given kind of household to live here — housing, food, care, medical, transport, taxes — and how that compares with the income limits the City uses to decide who qualifies for an affordable home. Today it can show the published cost budgets and the published qualifying limits with their sources. It cannot yet say what share of any neighborhood qualifies, so it says that plainly instead of estimating it.

What it costs to live here · 3 published

Cost components of the needs-based annual budget, by household
Each published annual cost component for a household of the stated composition: Food, Child Care, Medical, Housing, Transportation, Civic, Internet & Mobile, Other.Each figure describes one household of the stated composition, for one year — A level, not a ratio. Stated so a household budget is not read as a per-person or per-worker amount.
How this is measured, and where it comes from
US dollars per household per year · The publisher gives no interval, standard error or confidence range for any component. The geography is the county rather than the city, and the figures are a model of what a household needs rather than a record of what households spend. The taxes carried alongside them derive from the 2026 federal poverty guidelines and January 2026 minimum wage data per the publisher's own note.
24 rows · Fact
- 1 Adult, 0 Children — Food5,118
- 1 Adult, 0 Children — Child Care0
- 1 Adult, 0 Children — Medical4,067
- 1 Adult, 0 Children — Housing28,402
- 1 Adult, 0 Children — Transportation8,013
- 1 Adult, 0 Children — Civic3,456
- 1 Adult, 0 Children — Internet & Mobile2,071
- 1 Adult, 0 Children — Other4,715
- 1 Adult, 1 Child — Food7,507
- 1 Adult, 1 Child — Child Care24,408
- 1 Adult, 1 Child — Medical10,355
- 1 Adult, 1 Child — Housing36,243
- 1 Adult, 1 Child — Transportation9,273
- 1 Adult, 1 Child — Civic5,834
- 1 Adult, 1 Child — Internet & Mobile2,071
- 1 Adult, 1 Child — Other8,573
- 2 Adults (1 Working), 2 Children — Food14,977
- 2 Adults (1 Working), 2 Children — Child Care0
- 2 Adults (1 Working), 2 Children — Medical11,929
- 2 Adults (1 Working), 2 Children — Housing36,243
- 2 Adults (1 Working), 2 Children — Transportation13,441
- 2 Adults (1 Working), 2 Children — Civic8,762
- 2 Adults (1 Working), 2 Children — Internet & Mobile2,646
- 2 Adults (1 Working), 2 Children — Other10,204
Required annual income, by household
The published required annual income after taxes, the published annual taxes, and the published required annual income before taxes, for a household of the stated composition.Each figure describes one household of the stated composition, for one year — A level, not a ratio.
How this is measured, and where it comes from
US dollars per household per year · No interval is published. The geography is the county rather than the city, and the figure is a requirement produced by a model rather than an observed income. The tax line reflects the publisher's stated 2026 basis and would move with any change to it.
9 rows · Fact
- 1 Adult, 0 Children — Required annual income after taxes55,842
- 1 Adult, 0 Children — Annual taxes14,865
- 1 Adult, 0 Children — Required annual income before taxes70,707
- 1 Adult, 1 Child — Required annual income after taxes104,264
- 1 Adult, 1 Child — Annual taxes27,678
- 1 Adult, 1 Child — Required annual income before taxes131,941
- 2 Adults (1 Working), 2 Children — Required annual income after taxes98,202
- 2 Adults (1 Working), 2 Children — Annual taxes15,924
- 2 Adults (1 Working), 2 Children — Required annual income before taxes114,125
Largest cost component, as a share of the after-tax budget
The largest single published cost component for the household, in annual dollars.required annual income after taxes for the same household, from the same published table and the same vintage — Both terms come from one row set, so there is no cross-source or cross-vintage judgement in the division.
How this is measured, and where it comes from
percent of the after-tax needs budget · Inherits the county substitution and the modelled basis of both inputs, and no interval is published for either. The rounding is stated because a reader summing displayed shares across components would otherwise be surprised by a residual. Largest is an arithmetic rule over the published components, not a claim about which cost is hardest for a household to bear.
- 1 Adult, 0 Children — Housing50.9
- 1 Adult, 1 Child — Housing34.8
- 2 Adults (1 Working), 2 Children — Housing36.9

What the City's programs require · 3 published

Published income limit, by household size and band
The published annual income limit for the stated band and household size.Each figure describes one household of the stated size, for one year — A level, not a ratio. The household-size denominator is the whole point, because the limit varies with it.
How this is measured, and where it comes from
US dollars per year, effective June 1, 2026 · The publisher states that all income limits are subject to change, so the revision risk is declared by the source rather than inferred by us. The geography is the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH Metro FMR Area, which is far broader than Cambridge. This table replaces a prior effective date and will be replaced again. One column is printed as a HUD figure while falling outside the footnote's list of HUD-supplied bands, and that ambiguity is recorded rather than resolved.
48 rows · Fact
- 1 person household — City 50% of Median57,600
- 1 person household — HUD 50% AMI60,000
- 1 person household — HUD 60% of Median72,000
- 1 person household — HUD 80% AMI96,000
- 1 person household — HUD 100% of Median115,200
- 1 person household — 120% of Median138,260
- 2 person household — City 50% of Median65,850
- 2 person household — HUD 50% AMI68,600
- 2 person household — HUD 60% of Median82,320
- 2 person household — HUD 80% AMI109,700
- 2 person household — HUD 100% of Median131,700
- 2 person household — 120% of Median158,020
- 3 person household — City 50% of Median74,050
- 3 person household — HUD 50% AMI77,150
- 3 person household — HUD 60% of Median92,580
- 3 person household — HUD 80% AMI123,400
- 3 person household — HUD 100% of Median148,100
- 3 person household — 120% of Median177,770
- 4 person household — City 50% of Median82,300
- 4 person household — HUD 50% AMI85,700
- 4 person household — HUD 60% of Median102,840
- 4 person household — HUD 80% AMI137,100
- 4 person household — HUD 100% of Median164,600
- 4 person household — 120% of Median197,520
- 5 person household — City 50% of Median88,900
- 5 person household — HUD 50% AMI92,600
- 5 person household — HUD 60% of Median111,120
- 5 person household — HUD 80% AMI148,100
- 5 person household — HUD 100% of Median177,800
- 5 person household — 120% of Median213,320
- 6 person household — City 50% of Median95,450
- 6 person household — HUD 50% AMI99,450
- 6 person household — HUD 60% of Median119,340
- 6 person household — HUD 80% AMI159,050
- 6 person household — HUD 100% of Median190,900
- 6 person household — 120% of Median229,120
- 7 person household — City 50% of Median102,050
- 7 person household — HUD 50% AMI106,300
- 7 person household — HUD 60% of Median127,560
- 7 person household — HUD 80% AMI170,050
- 7 person household — HUD 100% of Median204,100
- 7 person household — 120% of Median244,920
- 8 person household — City 50% of Median108,650
- 8 person household — HUD 50% AMI113,150
- 8 person household — HUD 60% of Median135,780
- 8 person household — HUD 80% AMI181,000
- 8 person household — HUD 100% of Median217,300
- 8 person household — 120% of Median260,730
Programs the published limit table assigns to each band
No denominator — An assignment of a program to a band is not measured against anything. Supplying a denominator would invent a rate where the source states a mapping.
How this is measured, and where it comes from
band name, or first and last band of a published range · The publisher carries this mapping graphically rather than in prose, so each row records the mark it was read from. One bracket carries four programs whose bullets are typeset across two columns while the document drops a single connector onto one of them; that row names the ambiguity rather than hiding it, and a household relying on it should confirm the band with the Housing Department.
10 rows · Fact
- CHA Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8 program)HUD 50% AMI
- FTHB Downpayment AssistanceHUD 80% AMI
- Most private & non-profit affordable housingHUD 80% AMI
- CHA Elderly & Family Housing ProgramsHUD 80% AMI
- Home Improvement ProgramHUD 80% AMI
- Home Improvement Program (for NRSAs)120% of Median
- Inclusionary Housing Rental ProgramCity 50% of Median to HUD 80% AMI
- Homeownership Resale PoolCity 50% of Median to HUD 100% of Median
- HomeBridgeHUD 60% of Median to 120% of Median
- Middle-Income Rental ProgramHUD 80% AMI to 120% of Median
The rule converting household income into an affordable monthly cost
Monthly cost of an income-restricted unit.monthly household income — The publisher does not state whether utilities fall inside or outside the monthly cost, and the two readings give materially different answers.
How this is measured, and where it comes from
percent of monthly household income, fixed at 30 by the rule · The page stating the rule carries no effective date and no exceptions list, and does not say whether utilities sit inside or outside the thirty percent. That is recorded as an open definitional question rather than settled in either direction, because settling it silently would change every monthly figure derived from the rule.
Fact
Source
Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.
Inclusionary Housing · City of Cambridge Community Development Department · Statement of how monthly costs for affordable units are set · verified August 17, 2026
Monthly costs for affordable units are set at 30% of household income.
Fact

Putting the two side by side · 1 published

Distance between a needs budget and a qualifying limit
Required annual income before taxes for a household archetype, minus the published qualifying limit for the nominally corresponding household size.the published qualifying limit for that household size — The two terms come from different publishers, different geographies, different household taxonomies and different effective dates.
How this is measured, and where it comes from
percent of the qualifying limit, and US dollars per year · Two geographies, Middlesex County against the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH Metro FMR Area. Two incompatible household taxonomies, one adult with no children against one person. Two effective dates, February 15, 2026 against June 1, 2026. No publisher endorses the comparison, and every one of these mismatches is displayed alongside the result rather than noted once and forgotten.
Scenario
Source
Selected assumptions rather than a record of what happened. Excluded from factual totals.
Method: The range across the three published household archetypes of required annual income before taxes measured against the HUD 80% AMI limit for the nominally corresponding household size. Stated as a range because the sign of the answer changes between archetypes, and stated as a scenario because the comparability of the two household definitions and the two geographies is an assumption no publisher has made.
-26.3% to +20.3%
Scenario
3 rows · Scenario
- 1 Adult, 0 Children against the HUD 80% AMI limit for 1 person(s)-26.3
- 1 Adult, 1 Child against the HUD 80% AMI limit for 2 person(s)20.3
- 2 Adults (1 Working), 2 Children against the HUD 80% AMI limit for 4 person(s)-16.8

What cannot be answered yet · 1 published · 3 not

Life stages covered by a published needs budget
For each life stage this tracker covers, the published household archetypes that describe it.the life stages enumerated in this module as within the tracker's scope — The denominator is a documented scope commitment that 360citi authored, not a measurement. It changes if the scope changes, and it is held as a list so that change is a visible edit.
How this is measured, and where it comes from
covered or not covered, per named life stage · The rows record what a publisher publishes and what this tracker committed to cover. The first half is checkable against the source; the second half is an editorial commitment and is labelled as one, because a coverage figure whose denominator is invisible is the oldest way to make a gap look like completeness.
- Working-age adult household, no children1 Adult, 0 ChildrenFact
- Working-age adult household with children1 Adult, 1 Child; 2 Adults (1 Working), 2 ChildrenFact
- Older-adult householdMissing
- Household including a person with a disabilityMissing

Not published · 3

Share of households in a neighborhood at or below the qualifying limitMissing
What a household has left after essential costsMissing
Utilities cost for a Cambridge householdMissing

Why it matters

What it covers

Needs-based affordability by age and household and neighborhood; housing, utilities, transport, care and the residual after essential costs.

How it is measured

Costs are built up from published need estimates rather than from a single ratio. Every figure states the household composition and the year it applies to, because an affordability number without both is not comparable to anything.

How these are measured

Why a county figure appears on a city page

The publisher of the needs budget does not publish below county level for this area, so every cost component is a Middlesex County figure standing in for a Cambridge one. Rather than relabel it, each measure records the geography asked for, the geography provided and the mismatch between them, and the substitution renders beside the number. Cambridge housing costs in particular are not the county average.

A needs budget is not a spending record

These figures estimate what a household of a given composition would need to earn to meet a modelled standard of living. No household in this area was surveyed to produce them, and they should not be read as what local households actually spend. That is why every one of them carries a modelled basis alongside its source badge: the citation is about the record, the basis is about the world.

The components add up, and that is checked

The eight published cost components sum exactly to the published required annual income after taxes for each household, and adding the published tax line reaches the before-tax figure. No rounding tolerance is allowed: a non-zero difference means a component was dropped from the table or mistranscribed, so the reconciliation is asserted in the test suite rather than displayed as a figure. A number telling a reader that zero equals zero teaches them nothing; a test that fails on a dropped component protects them.

What the largest-line mark means

The mark identifies the component with the largest share of that household's required annual income after taxes. It is an arithmetic rule over published figures, stated so a reader can check why a row is marked, and it carries no claim about which cost is hardest to bear. A component that is not marked is not thereby affordable.

Why no neighborhood share appears

The qualifying rule varies by household size, so a share of qualifying households needs a joint distribution of household income by household size. The census publishes income and household size as separate totals at block-group level, and one cannot be recovered from the other. Applying a citywide average household size to an income distribution would produce a precise, confident, wrong figure. The federal cross-tabulation that comes closest uses percentage-of-median brackets rather than the City's dollar limits, keys on household characteristics rather than household size, and stops at the census tract.

Cambridge neighborhoods are not census geographies

The City aggregates census block groups to approximate neighborhood boundaries and publishes that caveat itself, naming three neighborhoods where the fit is poor. The crosswalk it used is not published, so even once a distribution exists a neighborhood figure could not be independently reproduced. That makes the neighborhood uncertainty a citable fact rather than an editorial hedge.

Open in the dashboard

TRUE Affordability Across Generations

Can a household on an ordinary income actually afford to live here?

Measures

Not published · 3

Why it matters

What it covers

How it is measured

How these are measured

What you can do about it

Read the published limit table yourself

Ask a program administrator whether a household qualifies

Check the needs budget against its publisher

See every source this page relies on

Report something that looks wrong

Sources

All join.All work together.