7.2 Million Homes That Don’t Exist
The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s 2026 Gap Report found the country is short 7.2 million affordable rental homes for extremely low-income renters. For every 100 of these households, only 35 affordable and available homes exist. The rest compete for housing they cannot afford, double up with family, or end up on the street.
7.2 million affordable homes short. Housing wage: $33.63/hr. Federal minimum wage: $7.25/hr. 75% of eligible families never receive rental assistance.
The shortage ranges from 7,154 units in South Dakota to nearly 1 million in California. In 13 of the 50 largest metros, the gap exceeds 100,000 units each.
$33.63 an Hour to Rent an Apartment
NLIHC’s Out of Reach 2025 report calculates the “housing wage” needed to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment without spending more than 30% of income. Nationally, that number is $33.63 per hour. The federal minimum wage is $7.25.
A minimum-wage worker would need to work 116 hours per week, nearly three full-time jobs, to afford that apartment. The average renter earns $23.60 per hour, still $10 short. Eighteen of the 25 most common U.S. jobs pay below the two-bedroom housing wage. Those 18 occupations employ 74 million workers.
The Waitlist That Never Moves
75% of families who qualify for federal rental assistance never receive it. The Section 8 voucher program serves about 2.3 million households. Nearly 3 million more sit on active waitlists. An estimated 9 million would be waiting if waitlists had not been closed.
Average wait time nationally is 2.5 years. In New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, waits stretch 5 to 10 years. NYC selected 200,000 applicants from 633,808 for its waitlist in 2024. Being selected for the waitlist is not the same as receiving a voucher.
The Squeeze From Both Directions
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act cut $863 billion from Medicaid and $295 billion from SNAP over ten years. When families lose healthcare coverage or food assistance, housing becomes the bill that goes unpaid. SNAP officials warned of higher eviction and homelessness rates when recipients must choose between food and rent.
The bill did expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, which could finance 1.2 million additional affordable units over the next decade. Whether that offsets the loss of safety net spending that keeps current renters housed is the open question.
What you can do now
- Call your U.S. senators and tell them to fully fund the Housing Choice Voucher program. 75% of eligible families get nothing because Congress funds only a fraction of the authorized slots. Use Resist Bot to send a message in minutes.
- Contact your state legislators and ask whether your state has adopted a housing trust fund or renter protection law. States like Oregon and California have passed rent stabilization measures. Find your state page for local context and legislator contacts.
- Ask your U.S. representative to protect SNAP and Medicaid funding in the next budget cycle. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act cut $863 billion from Medicaid and $295 billion from SNAP, pushing more families toward eviction when they lose healthcare and food assistance.
- File a comment with your local housing authority when it opens its Section 8 waitlist. Average wait times are 2.5 years nationally and stretch to 10 years in major cities. Getting on the list is the only path to a voucher.