The need for affordable housing remains severe across the country, with an estimated shortage of 7.2 million affordable and available homes for extremely low-income households, reports the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC).
In its new “The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes” report, NLIHC finds just 35 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income renter household—those with incomes at or below the poverty level or 30% of their area median income (AMI), whichever is greater.
“The findings from The Gap show that no state or major metropolitan area has an adequate supply of affordable and available homes for extremely low-income renters,” says NLIHC president and CEO Renee M. Willis, “It is a sad fact that only 1 in 4 households who qualify for housing assistance receive it. When renters are housing cost burdened, they cannot afford to cover other basic necessities such as food, health care, transportation, or child care. Congress has the solutions to increase housing affordability across the country. They must support robust housing assistance programs that can alleviate the housing crisis and ensure the well-being of millions of the lowest-income renters.”
The annual report offers a candid look at the shortage of affordable homes nationwide and in every state and major metro. This year’s findings include:
- Extremely low-income renters face the most severe shortage, with only 3.8 million affordable and available homes for 11 million households, leaving a shortage of 7.2 million affordable and available homes for them. When considering renters earning up to 50% AMI, which includes 6.8 million very low-income renters, the supply increases by 5.8 million affordable and available homes. Even so, the shortage for renter households with incomes at or below 50% of AMI continues to be substantial, exceeding 8.3 million homes;
- Black, Latino, and American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) households are disproportionately extremely low-income renters and disproportionately impacted by the housing shortage. Eighteen percent of Black non-Latino households, 16% of AIAN households, and 13% of Latino households are extremely low-income renters compared with just 6% of white households;
- Shortages of affordable and available homes for these renters range from 7,154 in South Dakota to nearly 1 million in California. The relative supply ranges from 16 affordable and available homes per 100 extremely low-income renter households in Nevada to 73 in South Dakota. In 13 of the country’s 50 largest metropolitan areas, the absolute shortage of affordable and available homes exceeds 100,000 units;
- Extremely low-income renters face the greatest challenges finding affordable housing in the state of Nevada, where there are only 16 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income renter households. Following Nevada, the states of Oregon (24/100), California (25/100), Arizona (26/100), Texas (26/100), and Florida (26/100) have the greatest relative shortages of affordable and available homes for extremely low-income renters; and
- Of the 50 largest metropolitan areas, extremely low-income renters face the most severe shortages in Las Vegas and Orlando, Florida (where there are only 13 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income renter households), followed by Houston (17/100), Dallas (18/100), Riverside, California (19/100), and Portland, Oregon (19/100).
Learn more about The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes 2026 report and view an interactive map at https://nlihc.org/gap.