Giving Compass' Take:

· According to Nancy M. Pindus and G. Thomas Kingsley at Urban Institute, the main problem with housing in Indian Country is not affordability, but rather access to physical housing itself. 

· What can be done to increase housing options in these areas? 

· Check out this article about housing services for Native Americans and Alaska Natives.

Physical housing problems have declined enough to be negligible across the country, but not for American Indians and Alaska Natives (AIAN) in tribal areas. In a recent study, we found that 10 percent of AIAN tribal area households had plumbing or kitchen deficiencies compared with only 3 percent for the United States on average, and 13 percent of these households had other heating or electrical deficiencies compared with only 2 percent for the United States on average. Overall, 34 percent had at least one problem with physical facilities, condition, or overcrowding, compared with only 7 percent of US households.

Our study also found that homelessness exacerbates overcrowding in tribal areas. The culture in Indian Country supports taking in family members and others who have no other place to stay, rather than letting them live homeless on the streets.

Meanwhile, affordability was less of an issue for AIAN tribal area households. Cost burden, when a household pays more than 30 percent of its income for housing, was the sole housing problem for only 23 percent of AIAN tribal area households, compared with 33 percent for US households on average.

Read the full article about housing in Indian Country by Nancy M. Pindus and G. Thomas Kingsley at Urban Institute.