How many people live in subsidized housing in Delaware?
In 2025, about 23,000 people in Delaware lived in subsidized housing. This was equivalent to about 2.0 people per unit. Subsidized housing options vary by location, ranging from high-rise or garden-style apartments to single-family dwellings, duplexes, and more. On average, residents in 2025 have lived in their units for 9 years and 2 months.
In 2025
23K
people lived in subsidized housing in Delaware
In 2025
2.2%
of the Delaware population lived in subsidized housing
Federally subsidized rental housing began with 1937’s US Housing Act, which created the United States Housing Authority and provided financial assistance to state and local governments for housing low-income people. Since then, the government has provided housing assistance to low-income renters through programs overseen by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
In New Castle County, 2.8% of people live in subsidized housing, the most of any county in Delaware.
Share of population living in subsidized housing, by county (2025)
How much do people living in subsidized housing earn?
People who live in subsidized housing share one thing: incomes low enough to qualify for housing assistance. In 2025, HUD classified 95% of households in subsidized housing as very low income and 75% as extremely low income.The average household in subsidized housing earned $19,442 in annual income. Across all subsidized housing, 91% of households earned less than $40,000.
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30% of households with subsidies earned $10K to <$15K in annual income.
Delaware households in subsidized housing, by annual income (2025)
What are the main sources of income for people in subsidized housing?
Renters in subsidized housing earn income from different sources. Welfare is the main income source for 2% of households. According to HUD and the Census Bureau, “welfare” includes the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, general assistance, or emergency assistance payments. Another 28% of households earn the majority of their income through wages, salaries, and business income. Finally, for 63% of households living in subsidized housing, the majority of income comes from other sources, a broad category that includes Social Security payments; insurance benefits; pensions; interest or dividends; and payments in lieu of salary like worker’s compensation, severance, unemployment, or disability. The remaining 7% is unaccounted for in the data.Wages, salaries, and business income were the primary source of income for 28% of households in subsidized housing.
Sources of income for Delaware households in subsidized housing (2025)
Households living in subsidized housing contribute to their rent. In 2025, households living in subsidized housing in Delaware paid average monthly rent of $467, which translates to an average of $5,604 per year, or 28.8% of the average household’s annual income. HUD contributed $1,041 per household per month, on average.
Cost burdened households
A higher share of renter households are cost-burdened than owner households.
Source: US Census Bureau
Who lives in subsidized housing?
Households that qualify for subsidies have a variety of family structures. HUD data focuses on homes with children, female-headed households, and households that include people with disabilities. In 2025:- 35% of households had one or more children under 18 years, and about 94.3% of these were headed by single parents.
- 78% of households were headed by women, and 33% were headed by women with children.
- 20% of all people living in subsidized housing had a disability.
In addition, 78% of households that lived in subsidized housing were headed by people belonging to minority groups, which the Census Bureau defines as anyone whose race and ethnicity is anything other than “white alone, non-Hispanic.”
Another way of understanding who benefits from housing subsidies is to look at age. People of all ages benefit from housing assistance.
How old are the heads of households in subsidized housing?
Forty-three percent of households living in subsidized housing are headed by people age 62 and older, the youngest age when people can qualify for Social Security. People aged 25 to 50 are considered “prime-age workers,” and households led by this group make up 39% of all households in subsidized housing.Subsidized households were most often headed by those 62 and older.
Delaware households in subsidized housing, by householder age (2025)
Keep exploring
- How many vacant homes are there in the US? - Over 15 million American homes — approximately 10% of the country’s housing inventory — were vacant in 2024.
- How many households in Delaware spend too much on housing?
- How does the government support people with Section 8 housing? - The Department of Housing and Urban Development offers two rental assistance programs for low-income Americans under Section 8 housing — Project-Based Rental Assistance and Housing Choice Vouchers.
- How much do households in Delaware spend on rent?
Methodology
USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.
Page sources
USAFacts endeavors to share the most up-to-date information available. We sourced the data on this page directly from government agencies; however, the intervals at which agencies publish updated data vary.
