How to Write a LIHTC Market Study: A Step-by-Step Guide
A practical, step-by-step guide to writing a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (Section 42) market study — from defining the PMA through demand, capture rate, and the feasibility conclusion. Built for affordable-housing analysts.LIHTC Capture Rate Explained (With the Formula and Thresholds)
What the capture rate means in a LIHTC market study, how it's calculated, the difference between capture and penetration rate, and the thresholds reviewers use to judge feasibility.The NCHMA Model Content Standards: Required Market Study Sections
A checklist of the NCHMA Model Content Standards sections every compliant LIHTC market study should cover, from the executive summary through analyst certification.What Is a Primary Market Area (PMA) in a Market Study?
A plain-English explanation of the Primary Market Area (PMA) in a LIHTC market study — what it is, how analysts define it, and why it drives every demand and capture-rate figure.Which Crime Data Should a LIHTC Market Study Cite? FBI Crime Data Explorer vs. AreaVibes (2026)
Both report FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data, but as of September 2026 the FBI Crime Data Explorer publishes agency counts for calendar year 2025 while AreaVibes still shows 2024. What each source is, how to cite it, and how to keep the crime section from being a year behind.When Is New Market Study Data Released? BLS, Census and FBI Publication Schedules (2026)
The release cadence of every official dataset behind a LIHTC market study's Market Data section — BLS LAUS, CPS, QCEW and OEWS; Census Building Permits and ACS; FBI UCR; Projections Central; NCES — with links to the publishers' schedules and the vintage available as of September 2026.BLS Series IDs for Market Studies: How to Cite LAUS, QCEW and OEWS Data So a Reviewer Can Reproduce It
How BLS series identifiers are built and how to put them in a market study so every unemployment, employment and wage figure can be pulled again from the source: LAUS area and measure codes, the QCEW open-data CSV, OEWS area pages, and the national CPS series.
A practical, step-by-step guide to writing a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (Section 42) market study — from defining the PMA through demand, capture rate, and the feasibility conclusion. Built for affordable-housing analysts.LIHTC Capture Rate Explained (With the Formula and Thresholds)
What the capture rate means in a LIHTC market study, how it's calculated, the difference between capture and penetration rate, and the thresholds reviewers use to judge feasibility.The NCHMA Model Content Standards: Required Market Study Sections
A checklist of the NCHMA Model Content Standards sections every compliant LIHTC market study should cover, from the executive summary through analyst certification.What Is a Primary Market Area (PMA) in a Market Study?
A plain-English explanation of the Primary Market Area (PMA) in a LIHTC market study — what it is, how analysts define it, and why it drives every demand and capture-rate figure.Which Crime Data Should a LIHTC Market Study Cite? FBI Crime Data Explorer vs. AreaVibes (2026)
Both report FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data, but as of September 2026 the FBI Crime Data Explorer publishes agency counts for calendar year 2025 while AreaVibes still shows 2024. What each source is, how to cite it, and how to keep the crime section from being a year behind.When Is New Market Study Data Released? BLS, Census and FBI Publication Schedules (2026)
The release cadence of every official dataset behind a LIHTC market study's Market Data section — BLS LAUS, CPS, QCEW and OEWS; Census Building Permits and ACS; FBI UCR; Projections Central; NCES — with links to the publishers' schedules and the vintage available as of September 2026.BLS Series IDs for Market Studies: How to Cite LAUS, QCEW and OEWS Data So a Reviewer Can Reproduce It
How BLS series identifiers are built and how to put them in a market study so every unemployment, employment and wage figure can be pulled again from the source: LAUS area and measure codes, the QCEW open-data CSV, OEWS area pages, and the national CPS series.