Milwaukee Area Renters Study (MARS)

Designed to collect new data related to housing, poverty, and urban life, the Milwaukee Area Renters Study (MARS) is an in-person survey of 1,086 households in Milwaukee. One person per household, usually an adult leaseholder, was interviewed. The MARS instrument was comprised of more than 250 unique items and administered in-person in English and Spanish. The University of Wisconsin Survey Center supervised data collection, which took place between 2009 and 2011. The MARS sample was limited to renters. Nationwide, the majority of low-income families live in rental housing, and most receive no federal housing assistance. Except in exceptional cities with very high housing costs, the rental population is comprised of some upper- and middle-class households who prefer renting and most of the cities’ low-income households who are excluded both from public housing and homeownership. To focus on urban renters in the private market, then, is to focus on the lived experience of most low-income families living in cities. MARS was funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, through its “How Housing Matters” initiative.