Book excerpt: The Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP) is the largest of the rental subsidy programs administered by HUD. In the HCVP, a family is offered a voucher, which it can use to rent any privately owned unit that meets program requirements. The HCVP "success rate" is the proportion of families issued a voucher who succeed in leasing a unit within the timeframe provided by the program. This volume examines success rates in metro areas. It finds that success rates vary with local market conditions. Importantly, success rates did not differ by such characteristics as the race, ethnicity, gender, or disability status of the head of household. This suggests that the voucher program works equally well for many different types of households. Illustrated.