Washington State Needs Over 1 Million Homes in Next 20 Years

The Washington State Department of Commerce today released its final housing needs projections, which show the state needs to add 1.1 million homes over the next 20 years, and more than half of them need to be affordable for residents at the lowest income levels. 

Based on census data and the Office of Financial Management’s population projections, these final housing projections show that the state needs more than 50,000 new units annually to keep pace with expected population growth.

“Every community in the state is experiencing housing pressures and needs to plan for enough housing so that everyone can live inside," reads a new release from the Washington State Department of Commerce. "This housing will require significant local, state, and federal investments to meet our state’s future housing needs because it is difficult for the private market to produce housing for the lowest income brackets.”

According to the release, recent federal data suggests approximately 30% of Washingtonians are cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than that 30% of their income on housing.

Read more at Commerce.WA.gov