Housing Gaps in Cities of Color: Affordability Trends in Newark's Inner-Ring Suburbs of Irvington, Orange and East Orange
Katharine Nelson, Senior Research Fellow
12, November 2021
Orange, East Orange, and Irvington are Black working-class suburban communities. While home to just under 20% of Essex’s population, they are home to almost 40% of all Black residents and only 2% of White residents. These communities are also growing fast, with surging Latino and immigrant populations from the Caribbean.
These inner-ring suburbs are challenged by elevated rates of poverty and a growing unaffordability, and they have few resources to address these pressing needs. In 2020, Orange, East Orange, and Irvington residents generated only $30,000-$40,000 in tax basis for essential public services, such as police, education and sanitation. Meanwhile, nearby Summit residents generated almost four and a half times as many resources as any of these communities, and to serve a much smaller population.
Orange, East Orange, and Irvington are renter communities. Seventy to eighty percent of households rent their home. More than half of renters are burdened by housing costs, meaning they spend more than 1/3 of their income on rent. More than a quarter are severely rent burdened, meaning they spend more than half of their income on housing costs.
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