Amy Scott

Host & Senior Correspondent, Housing

SHORT BIO

Amy Scott is the host of “How We Survive,” Marketplace's climate solutions podcast, and a senior correspondent covering housing, climate and the economy. She is also a frequent guest host of Marketplace programs.

Since 2001, Amy has held many roles at Marketplace and covered many beats, from the culture of Wall Street to education and housing. Her reporting has taken her to every region of the country as well as Egypt, Dubai and Germany.  Her 2015 documentary film, “Oyler,” about a Cincinnati public school fighting to break the cycle of poverty in its traditionally urban Appalachian neighborhood, has screened at film festivals internationally and was broadcast on public television in 2016. She's currently at work on a film about a carpenter's mission to transform an abandoned block in west Baltimore into a community of Black women homeowners.

Amy has won several awards for her reporting, including a SABEW Best in Business podcast award in 2023, Gracie awards for outstanding radio series in 2013 and 2014 and an Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting in 2012. Before joining Marketplace, Amy worked as a reporter in Dillingham, Alaska, home to the world’s largest wild sockeye salmon run. These days she's based in Baltimore.

Latest Stories (1,677)

Hurricane risk will grow in the coming decades, report warns

Mar 1, 2023
A new tool shows the likelihood of wind damage by property address.
Cleared lots were all that remained of some homes in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, in late January, months after Hurricane Ian ravaged the area.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

New carbon capture methods offer hopeful outlook for addressing climate change

Feb 20, 2023
One startup's method relies on the same natural process that pulls CO2 out of the air to create limestone.
To make progress against climate change, we'll need to invest in technologies that pull carbon dioxide out of the air,  in addition to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Will that kitchen remodel pay for itself when you sell your house?

Feb 17, 2023
Most home improvement projects don't break even, a new study says. But the value of an upgrade may be more than financial.
A desire for dedicated office space "blossomed" into a major renovation at Matt Hampton's house in suburban Baltimore.
Amy Scott/Marketplace

As mortgage rates rise, so have all-cash offers for homes

Feb 15, 2023
Some people are selling expensive homes and using the cash proceeds to buy more affordable ones. How does that hurt first-time buyers?
Paying cash for homes is a growing trend.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Have homebuyers adapted to higher interest rates?

Feb 2, 2023
Some analysts say acceptance plays a role in the recent increase of home sales.
Following mortgage rates north of 7% late last year, a 6% mortgage rate doesn't sound too shabby to some homebuyers.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

The rising sea

Feb 1, 2023
A radio special exploring how we’ll survive sea-level rise.
A lifeguard hut on a Miami beach. Nearly 60% of properties in Miami are at risk of being severely affected by flooding in the next three decades, researchers say.
Amy Scott/Marketplace

More buyers are backing out of housing contracts

Jan 26, 2023
They're down about 26% compared to a year ago.
When buyers back out of contracts, that can slow down construction of new homes, said Clint Mitchell, CEO of Estridge Homes in Indianapolis.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

The average U.S. renter now spends 30% of their income on rent, a new all-time high

Jan 20, 2023
When people have to spend more and more on rent, there's not much left over for other essentials.
Though there are large geographic differences, the average renter household in the U.S. is spending 30% of their income on rent.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

This nonprofit wants to put more women in national security jobs

Jan 18, 2023
Girl Security is working to change perceptions of the field and encouraging women to bring their valuable experiences to the space.
Women make up only 20% of the national security workforce, but the nonprofit Girl Security is looking to change that. Above, the Pentagon.
Alex Wong/Getty Images

Shelter costs rose in December while the Consumer Price Index declined. Why?

Jan 12, 2023
Today’s inflation report showed that both the rent and owner-equivalent rent indexes rose 0.8% in December.
Rents fell .8% nationally in December, according to data from Apartment List. Yet rents in the CPI rose by .8% last month,
Joe Raedle/Getty Imagea