Big “A” affordable housing is a specific designation based upon ‘area median income’ (AMI) of 120% or less.  Who are these people?  Vineyard workers, farm workers, house cleaners, manicurists, baristas, restaurant staff, hotel staff, elderly, disabled. According to the 2024 State of Housing in Sonoma County by Generation Housing, households where workers earn the median wage in six of the county’s most common occupations can only afford to pay, on average, $1,000 in rent each month, yet median rental costs are over $1,900 (1). Roughly 8 in 10 Extremely Low-Income (<30% AMI) and Very Low-Income (31-50% AMI) households are cost burdened, while 40% of Moderate (80-120% AMI) earning owners and renters are cost burdened (1).

Workforce housing encompasses both the Affordable designation but also includes what has been named the “missing middle” (above moderate, 121-160% AMI), whose income falls between 121-160% AMI-for which there are no government-designated programs or laws.   Who are these people?  Police officers, Firefighters, Hospital workers, Government workers, Small Business owners and employees.  

Residents between the ages of 35–54 have vanished from the County by the tens of thousands in the last two decades. This segment is typically in need of entry-level, for-sale homes as they start families and seek to put down roots in a community (1).  

The Springs neighborhood in Sonoma Valley has the largest share of overcrowded households in the county and Latino households continue to experience the highest rate of overcrowding in Sonoma County, nearly ten times the rate of White households within the county (1).