Statewide Rent Control and Housing Cost Burden: Evidence from Oregon's Senate Bill 608We thank the Census Bureau for providing public access to American Community Survey microdata. All errors are our own.

Abstract

We examine whether Oregon's Senate Bill 608, the first statewide rent control law in the United States, reduced housing cost burden among renters. Using American Community Survey microdata from 2015–2022 and a difference-in-differences design comparing Oregon to neighboring Western states, we find that SB 608 is associated with a statistically significant 0.4 percentage point reduction in severe rent burden (spending more than 50% of income on rent) and a 1.2 percentage point reduction in moderate rent burden (more than 30% of income). Event study estimates reveal no pre-existing differential trends between Oregon and control states prior to 2019. Our findings suggest that statewide rent stabilization policies may provide modest housing affordability benefits, though effects are concentrated among higher-income renters. These results contribute to ongoing policy debates about the efficacy of rent regulation as a tool for preventing housing instability and homelessness. \vspace{0.5em} JEL Codes: R31, R38, I38 Keywords: Rent control, housing affordability, housing cost burden, homelessness prevention, difference-in-differences