Housing discrimination in the low-income context: Evidence from a correspondence experiment

This paper uses a correspondence experiment across the northeastern corridor of the US to examine landlord responses to prospective tenants inquiries through a low-income housing rental web site. We find multiple forms of discrimination against African-American tenants, including less responses, responses with less greeting and polite words being used, and levels of discrimination that progressively increases along measures of school quality and neighborhood characteristics. In contrast, we find substantially less evidence of discrimination against voucher holders. Voucher holders do not see lower rates of response, though responses arrive later on average and they face lower rates of responses in neighborhoods with very high quality schools. The results demonstrate that racial discrimination is substantial even in a context where landlords advertise to low-income families, though discrimination against voucher holders may be attenuated.