St. Louis ended 2020 with its busiest month of the year for rent assistance requests. 211 of Greater St. Louis received nearly 2,500 requests for rent assistance in December from across the St. Louis metropolitan area, a whopping 92% increase over the same month in 2019. For the year, rent assistant requests were 43% higher in 2020 (orange line in chart) than 2019 (blue line). Nationally, rent payment needs have risen sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic. In St. Louis, requests to 211 for rent assistance were 71% higher after the pandemic began in March 2020 vs. March 2019, stabilized at typical rates through mid-summer, then climbed dramatically from August through December as eviction filings increased in the region. Analyses included 35,759 rent assistance requests received by 211 in 2019 and 2020 from Bond IL, Calhoun IL, Clinton IL, Jersey IL, Macoupin IL, Madison IL, Monroe IL, St. Clair IL, St. Louis MO, Franklin MO, Jefferson MO, Lincoln MO, and St. Louis City. Data were accessed through 211 Counts, a daily tracking system of community needs used by 38 states. Mouse over each line in the chart to see the number of requests received in each month and year.
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