San Francisco's Housing Affordability Crisis and its Workforce: Summary of 2022 SFSU Employee Housing Needs Assessment

Applied Housing Research Initiative sponsored a Special Report, titled “Needs Assessment of SFSU Employee Housing Assistance” co-authored by Dr. Sheldon Gen and Dr. Anoshua Chaudhuri. This special project was funded by the San Francisco State University Foundation and the University Corporation.

Here are the main findings from the report, which included a survey of SFSU employees implemented in January and February of 2022.

• The cost of housing in the San Francisco Bay Area constitutes a strategic threat to San Francisco State University’s ability to deliver its academic mission.
• Housing costs is a significant source of stress and dissatisfaction for SFSU employees, especially its staff, lecturer faculty, and assistant professors.
• SFSU employees prioritize several housing services that could potentially help them reach their housing goals. And while the region offers access to state and local programs that provide these services, large residual service gaps remain.
• A prioritized list of service gaps to address include below-market rate home rentals, rent-to-own home purchases, and housing counseling for employees.

The full special report can be downloaded from the AHRI web page here. Please direct any questions to Anoshua and Sheldon about this report.