In past years the City was required by the Growth Management Act (GMA) to ensure the total number of housing units the City could accommodate in twenty years would be sufficient to house the population growth expected by 2046. With the adoption of House Bill (HB) 1220 in 2021, Washington State added a new requirement for cities like Spokane to analyze their housing capacity and determine if enough capacity exists for different levels of affordability.
City staff will brief the City Council on September 8, 2025 during their Urban Experience committee on the results of this analysis. Visit the Urban Experience committee page for more information on upcoming meetings.
For those wishing to know more, an in-depth technical presentation was given to the Plan Commission on July 9, 2025 by City staff. The full Accommodating Affordable Housing Report (PDF 5.0 MB) is also available.
As a result of this new legislation, Cities and Counties throughout Washington (Spokane included) are analyzing their housing capacity and using public and private market data to break capacity into various affordability brackets. These brackets are based on the percent of the Area Median Income, or AMI, a household makes – expressed as % AMI shown below:
| Affordability Bracket |
%AMI | 3-Person Family Income Range (Annual) |
|---|---|---|
| Extremely Low Income | 0-30% AMI | $0 – $27,250 |
| Very Low-Income | 30-50% AMI | $27,251 – $45,400 |
| Low Income | 50-80% AMI | $45,401 – $72,600 |
| Moderate Income | 80-100% AMI | $72,601 – $90,720 |
| High Income | 100-120% AMI | $90,721 – $108,864 |
| Highest Income | 120% + AMI | $108,865 and up |
These affordability brackets, listed in the middle column above, represent all the different Spokane households considered when analyzing the City’s ability to accommodate enough housing to meet the need.
In general, the ideal housing cost for a household is no more than 30% of household income. In other words, an 80% AMI household making about $72,600 per year should be expected to spend no more than $21,780 per year on housing costs. An annual cost of $21,780 equals a rent or mortgage payment of about $1,815.
In accordance with HB 1220, Spokane County and the various Cities within it undertook a regional discussion identifying not only how many dwelling units are needed in the County and Cities but also how many units are needed in each affordability bracket. Following the allocation, the City completed its analysis of affordable housing and compared the results to the allocation. This analysis took many months and required consideration of both the City’s adopted Land Capacity Analysis as well as public sources for real-estate market conditions – including median rent and median home prices in different parts of the City. Also considered was the large number of housing units built in the City since 2020 and the mix of rental housing to purchased housing found in the City.
The result of this analysis indicates the City currently does not have enough capacity to accommodate the most affordable units – those in the 0-80% AMI bracket.
With this analysis, the PlanSpokane 2046 effort will need to find ways to accommodate approximately 4,400 more of the most affordable units in the City. Those solutions are being developed now as part of the periodic update and will be introduced soon.
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City of Spokane
Department of Planning Services
809 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.
Spokane, WA 99201
509.625.6500
PlanSpokane@spokanecity.org
