This dataset provides access to Qualified Census Tracts (QCTs) in Connecticut to assist in administration of American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds.
The Secretary of HUD must designate QCTs, which are areas where either 50 percent or more of the households have an income less than 60 percent of the AMGI for such year or have a poverty rate of at least 25 percent.
HUD designates QCTs based on new income and poverty data released in the American Community Survey (ACS). Specifically, HUD relies on the most recent three sets of ACS data to ensure that anomalous estimates, due to sampling, do not affect the QCT status of tracts.
QCTs are identified for the purpose of Low-Income Housing Credits under IRC Section 42, with the purpose of increasing the availability of low-income rental housing by providing an income tax credit to certain owners of newly constructed or substantially rehabilitated low-income rental housing projects.
Also included are the number of households from the 2010 census (the “p0150001” variable), the average poverty rate using the 2014-2018 ACS data (the “pov_rate_18” variable), and the ratio of Tract Average Household Size Adjusted Income Limit to Tract Median Household Income using the 2014-2018 ACS data (the “inc_factor_18” variable).
For the last variable mentioned in the previous paragraph, the income limit is the limit for being considered a very low income household (size-adjusted and based on Area Mean Gross Income). This value is divided by the median household income for the given tract, to get a sense of how the limit and median incomes compare. For example, if ratio>1, it implies that the tract is very low income because the limit income is greater than the median income. This ratio is a compact way to include the separate variables for the household income limit and median household income for each tract.