States Where Most Americans Need Housing Assistance

 Housing costs keep climbing faster than wages in many parts of the U.S., putting extra pressure on low-income renters.

This visualization, via Visual Capitalist's Pallavi Rao, maps all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico by how many low-income renters receive federal housing assistance relative to their population.

Data is sourced from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Policy Development and Research (HUD).

HUD’s 2024 estimates count more than 9 million Americans (27 per 1,000) currently receiving vouchers, public-housing units, or other subsidies.

Households typically pay 30% of their adjusted income (i.e. after taxes) as rent, and the government covers the rest.

Ranked: Americans Needing Rental Assistance, by State

D.C. stands out with 72 assisted renters per 1,000 residents.

That’s more than double the U.S. average of 27 and reflects both DC’s high housing costs, its population growth since 2000, and the limited growth in housing in the same time period.

Rank	State	Code	# of People on Housing Assistance (2024)	State Population	# of People on Housing Assistance per 1,000 Residents
1	District of Columbia	DC	50,389	702,250	72
2	Puerto Rico	PR	196,165	3,203,295	61
3	Rhode Island	RI	58,640	1,112,308	53
4	New York	NY	1,000,730	19,867,248	50
5	Massachusetts	MA	346,968	7,136,171	49
6	Connecticut	CT	148,989	3,675,069	41
7	Mississippi	MS	115,391	2,943,045	39
8	Louisiana	LA	178,836	4,597,740	39
9	Alabama	AL	175,759	5,157,699	34
10	Ohio	OH	392,408	11,883,304	33
11	Vermont	VT	21,313	648,493	33
12	Kentucky	KY	150,525	4,588,372	33
13	Hawaii	HI	47,342	1,446,146	33
14	Illinois	IL	392,302	12,710,158	31
15	New Jersey	NJ	289,801	9,500,851	31
16	Maryland	MD	187,764	6,263,220	30
17	West Virginia	WV	52,826	1,769,979	30
18	Maine	ME	41,698	1,405,012	30
19	Minnesota	MN	165,434	5,793,151	29
20	Pennsylvania	PA	366,433	13,078,751	28
21	Arkansas	AR	82,678	3,088,354	27
22	Tennessee	TN	193,490	7,227,750	27
23	North Dakota	ND	19,271	796,568	24
24	New Hampshire	NH	33,811	1,409,032	24
25	Michigan	MI	242,304	10,140,459	24
26	Missouri	MO	147,635	6,245,466	24
27	California	CA	918,612	39,431,263	23
28	Georgia	GA	259,256	11,180,878	23
29	Oklahoma	OK	92,093	4,095,393	22
30	South Carolina	SC	122,225	5,478,831	22
31	Nebraska	NE	44,628	2,005,465	22
32	Virginia	VA	194,664	8,811,195	22
33	Oregon	OR	93,896	4,272,371	22
34	Delaware	DE	22,865	1,051,917	22
35	South Dakota	SD	19,928	924,669	22
36	Washington	WA	170,021	7,958,180	21
37	North Carolina	NC	223,353	11,046,024	20
38	Indiana	IN	137,552	6,924,275	20
39	Wisconsin	WI	118,308	5,960,975	20
40	New Mexico	NM	40,853	2,130,256	19
41	Alaska	AK	14,146	740,133	19
42	Texas	TX	595,361	31,290,831	19
43	Colorado	CO	113,116	5,957,493	19
44	Iowa	IA	60,330	3,241,488	19
45	Montana	MT	20,172	1,137,233	18
46	Florida	FL	405,398	23,372,215	17
47	Kansas	KS	49,535	2,970,606	17
48	Nevada	NV	50,441	3,267,467	15
49	Wyoming	WY	8,663	587,618	15
50	Arizona	AZ	85,458	7,582,384	11
51	Idaho	ID	20,902	2,001,619	10
52	Utah	UT	32,862	3,503,613	9
N/A	U.S.	USA	9,039,779	340,110,988	27

Puerto Rico places second at 61 per 1,000—a legacy of limited job opportunities and post-hurricane rebuilding needs—while Rhode Island rounds out the top three at 53.

One study found that a minimum wage worker in Rhode Island must work an 85-hour workweek to afford a standard two-bedroom apartment.

ℹ️ Related: Puerto Rico also has the highest share of residents on welfare. Rhode Island is 10th and DC is 12th.

States With the Fewest Americans on Housing Assistance

Roughly half of U.S. states cluster between 20 and 30 assisted renters per 1,000 residents.

This middle group includes Midwestern states like Minnesota (29) and Michigan (24) as well as fast-growing Sun Belt hubs such as Georgia (23).

At the lower end, Western states Idaho (10) and Utah (9) report the fewest recipients per 1,000 residents. Part of that gap reflects younger demographics and higher home-ownership rates.

ℹ️ Related: Idaho ranks 16th and Utah 18th by home ownership rates, both higher than 70%.

But the eligibility to qualify for federal rental assistance varies by county and household size. Low numbers can also signal unmet needs or where waitlists run long.

Americans On Housing Assistance by Pure Numbers

When we shift from per-capita rates to raw counts, America’s largest states unsurprisingly dominate.

New York alone supports one million low-income renters, roughly equal to the combined totals of the bottom 10 states.

California follows closely with 919,000 recipients, reflecting the state’s chronic affordability crunch. Texas (595,000) and Florida (405,000) also rank high—even though their per-capita rates sit near the national average.

Wondering how much money the HUD is paying out on average per renter? Check out Where Rent Subsidies Are Highest, by U.S. State on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/these-are-states-where-most-americans-need-housing-assistance