“Apartments designated as affordable are sitting empty as the poorest in the U.S. cannot afford them,” per NBC

Poorest can’t find housing. Low-income units sit empty. Austin 16%.

The poorest people in the U.S. face the most acute shortages of affordable homes. But the majority of low-income housing financed in recent years is for those earning 50% of an area’s median income or above, according to a survey of state housing agencies.

Some cities are now seeing an uptick in vacancies as rents for these units approach market rates. The result: Apartments designated as affordable sit empty because the poorest of the poor cannot afford them.

Meanwhile, some people are forced into homelessness and others into desperate circumstances to pay for housing they can’t afford.

The poorest have few housing options
There are only about 4 million affordable rental units available for the country’s 11 million extremely low-income renter households, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s most recent annual report.

These are people with annual incomes either below the federal poverty guidelines — just under $16,000 for a single-person household — or 30% of the median income in their area, whichever is higher. They comprise about a quarter of U.S. renter households, and include many people working low-wage jobs, seniors and those with disabilities living on fixed incomes.

About three-quarters of extremely low-income renter households pay over half their income on rent and utilities, the report said, leaving little leftover for other necessities.

Austin, Denver, Portland vacancies. 11 million vs 4 million.

The poorest renters in the US are facing an unusual mismatch: affordable housing is sitting vacant in some cities even as extremely low-income households struggle to find a place to live.

The Associated Press reported on September 7 that thousands of income-restricted units in cities including Austin, Denver, and Portland are going unleased because rents and application requirements remain out of reach for the households they are intended to serve.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s 2026 report estimates that only about 4M affordable rental units are available for 11M extremely low-income renter households. About three-quarters of those households spend more than half their income on rent and utilities, underscoring the scale of the gap.