2023 and 2024 Affordability Refresh

CPUC Staff have finished revising the 2023 Affordability Ratio Calculator (ARC) based on comments received from stakeholders. The final version of the 2023 ARC also contains some minor bug fixes and a more condensed set of results on some of the output tabs, removing AR outputs for certain areas with extremely small residential populations (estimated to contain fewer than 100 housing units). 

Staff have also used the 2023 ARC as the starting point for a more limited update of the tool for the 2024 refresh. This version of the tool reflects income levels and housing costs that have been escalated to 2024 levels based on historical inflation data. This 2024 ARC combines the inflation-adjusted income and housing cost data with updated essential usage bills (EUBs). Both versions of the ARC are now available for use.

In addition, staff intend to provide supporting datasets, documentation, and Tableau outputs of the results, which will be added to this page at a later date.

Note: Staff were made aware of a calculation error in the prior version of the 2024 ARC that has been corrected in this newer version, which was issued in October 2026 with the file name “ARC_2024_final_v3_09252026.xlsm”. The prior version of the tool included a formula that referred to the incorrect forecasted bills when calculating AR values at the Census tract level. Please use this newer version of the tool going forward.