How Well Do Section 8 FMRs (Fair Market Rent) Match the Cost of Rental Housing? Data from Thirty-Nine Large Cities

The FMR (Fair Market Rent) idea was built into the Section 8 lower income rental assistance program to provide a means to reflect variations in the rental cost of comparable housing in different market areas and also rental cost differences within a market area due to size variations in housing units. Does the FMR schedule for the Section 8 Existing Housing Program parallel the actual differences in the rents of comparable housing among metropolitan areas? We find the 1975 schedule fulfills some of the criteria for an efficient and equitable Section 8 Existing Housing Program but not all.