The nation’s affordable housing crisis shows little sign of easing. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s “Worst Case Housing Needs: 2025 Report to Congress,” an estimated 8.46 million renter households were living with “worst case” housing needs in 2023 — virtually unchanged from the all-time high reached during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Worst case housing needs” are defined as renter households with very low incomes (earning no more than 50% of the area median income) who receive no housing assistance and either spend more than half of their income on rent or live in severely inadequate housing. HUD has tracked this measure for decades, and the latest findings underscore the persistence of housing affordability challenges despite economic recovery and record levels of apartment construction.
The report finds that worst case needs have averaged roughly eight million households since the Great Recession, well above pre-2008 norms. While the number of affected households declined slightly, by approximately 62,000, between 2021 and 2023, the share of very low-income renters experiencing worst case needs actually edged higher, reaching 44.2%. Nearly one in two extremely low-income renters faced severe housing problems.
Contrary to popular perception, HUD emphasizes that the crisis is not solely the result of insufficient housing production. In 2024, the U.S. added nearly 592,000 new apartments, the largest annual increase since the early 1970s, and housing units per capita reached a record high. Yet much of this new supply entered the market at higher rent levels, limiting its usefulness for the lowest-income renters.
At the core of the problem, the report found, was affordability, not habitability. HUD reports that 98% of worst case needs are driven by severe rent burdens, while severely inadequate housing conditions account for only a small fraction. Incomes for very low-income renters have not kept pace with rent growth, particularly after inflation is considered, leaving households with little room to absorb price increases.
Demand-side pressures have further strained the market as well, as the report highlights rapid household growth — driven in part by high immigration levels, declining marriage rates, and limited homeownership opportunities — as a major contributor to elevated rental demand. Because housing supply responds slowly, these forces have sustained upward pressure on rents even amid a rise in construction activity.
Regionally, the burden of worst case housing needs is widespread but uneven. The South and West account for the largest number of affected households, while urban suburbs have emerged as a particular pressure point.
Demographically, households with extremely low incomes make up nearly 69% of all worst case needs, and challenges cut across race, age, and household type. Single adults and older renters without children represent a growing share of households under strain.
HUD also raises caution about the limits of existing policy tools. While rental assistance prevents millions of households from falling into worst case conditions, the report notes that subsidies can, in some markets, increase competition for affordable units and indirectly push rents higher for unassisted renters. As of 2023, only about one in four eligible very low-income renters received housing assistance.
The report concludes that addressing worst case housing needs will require a more comprehensive approach, one that combines income growth, targeted expansion of deeply affordable housing, and greater attention to demand-side forces shaping the rental market.
