Annually, about 300,000 rental units are affordable to Minnesota households with incomes at or below 50% of the statewide median income. In 2023, there were an estimated 316,715 occupied units affordable to these households. The number of affordable units has generally increased each year except between 2020 and 2021. This decrease in the number of affordable occupied units could reflect young people temporarily moving back into their parents’ households during the COVID-19 pandemic.¹

¹ Almost 3 Million Adults Moved Back Home in Wake of the Coronavirus, Zillow research. 

Existing housing is typically the most affordable and preserving it is more cost-effective than building new. Segments of existing affordable housing are at risk of being lost to rent or price increases or deterioration. Tracking the number of rental units that are affordable to low-income households (those with incomes at or below 50% of the statewide median income) is critical to understand and assess the availability of affordable rental housing in Minnesota.

This metric captures the estimated number of occupied rental units in which the rent and utilities are affordable to households with incomes at or below 50% of the statewide median income. Affordable rent is calculated as 30% of household income adjusted for number of bedrooms and household size. For context, in 2023 in Minnesota (the most recent data in the dashboard), 50% of the statewide median annual income for a three-person household was $49,550; with that income, monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment would need to be no higher than $1,239 to be affordable. The data is from 5-year iPUMS sample of the American Community Survey (ACS).