Austin Musicians Squeezed By Housing Crisis

Inexpensive housing helped build Austin's thriving music scene, writes Miles Bloxson. For decades, musicians flocked to the city, taking advantage of affordable rents and home prices to build one of the country's most vibrant music communities. But now, the explosive rise in housing costs could effectively destroy it. According to the author of the 2015 Austin Music Census, Nikki Rowling, "musicians’ incomes have ‘not kept up with the times or inflation or affordability issues in any way.’” Today, one fifth of Austin musicians live below the poverty line, with close to a third living just above it.

Even before the pandemic, Austin musicians had started leaving the city to search for more affordable housing. Since 2009, the average home price rose from $187,000 to $500,000, with prices rising by $100,000 in the first half of 2021 alone and average rents going up by roughly $300. 

Meanwhile, housing construction in Austin and other booming cities around the country is experiencing delays due to supply chain and labor problems, while costs continue to skyrocket in an overheated housing market made more competitive by the pandemic. Left to market forces, many of Austin’s musicians may find themselves forced to relocate to more affordable communities.