Hayward’s Share of Bay Area Housing Need

Under a regional planning process required by state law, the City of Hayward must provide for creation of 4,624 new units of housing to meet its “fair share” of the San Francisco Bay Area’s overall new housing production need. While the City is not responsible for the actual construction of these units, Hayward is responsible for ensuring there is adequate land zoned to accommodate the allocation and for creating a regulatory framework under which the private market could produce the housing.
Colorful chart showing the Regional Housing Needs Allocation by income

The chart above depicts the RHNA Allocation, or Regional Housing Needs Allocation, for Alameda County. RHNA Allocation refers to the process by which the state of California assigns housing development targets to cities and counties. These targets indicate how many housing units a community needs to plan for over a set period, by income levels (extremely low, very low, low, moderate, and above moderate). The goal is to ensure enough housing is built to meet the needs of people across different income brackets and to address housing shortages. Each community must include these targets in their housing plans (called Housing Elements).

AMI, or Area Median Income, plays a key role in RHNA Allocation because it helps determine how housing needs are divided across different income levels. RHNA sets targets for housing units in categories based on percentages of AMI. In Alameda County the AMI is $142,800 and the income categories are: 

  • Above Moderate (Greater than 120% of the AMI)
  • Moderate (81% to 120% of the AMI)
  • Low (51% to 80% of the AMI)
  • Very Low (30% to 50% of AMI)
  • Extremely Low (Below 30% of the AMI)

Learn more: 

California Department of Housing and Community Development —