How many subsidized housing units are available in Providence County, RI?
About 27,645 subsidized housing units in Providence County, RI in 2023. Approximately 7.0% of these units were unoccupied and available to rent. 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 different programs overseen by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
In 2023
27.6K
subsidized housing units existed in Providence County
In 2023
1.9K
subsidized housing units were unoccupied and available to rent
In 2023
7%
of all subsidized housing units were available to rent
There were about 25,530 occupied subsidized housing units in 2022, and around 117,258 occupied rental units — subsidized and unsubsidized — in Providence County, RI. That means 21.8% of all occupied rentals in Providence County were provided by housing assistance programs. In 2022, 8.0% of all subsidized units in Providence County were vacant, compared with 2.8% of all available rentals.
The number of available subsidized housing units varies throughout Providence County, RI. Administered by local public housing authorities (PHAs), availability is shaped by local policy and factors like geography (e.g., urban vs. rural vs. suburban), need, and more.
In 2023, Providence County provided 418 subsidized housing units per 10K people.
Subsidized housing can take different forms — from high-rise buildings to garden-style apartments to single-family dwellings, duplexes, and more — but all are accessed via eight different housing assistance programs under HUD. These are classified as either public housing; tenant-based programs; or privately-owned, project-based housing.
Tenant-based programs — known today as the Housing Choice Voucher program — allow recipients to choose their own housing in the private market, so long as it meets program requirements. Privately-owned, project based programs provide subsidized housing in larger, multifamily housing developments through agreements between landlords and HUD. Public housing units are built and managed by local housing agencies.
In 2023, the most common type of subsidized housing in Providence County, RI was privately-owned, project-based programs with 13,186 housing units. These accounted for 47.7% of the county’s subsidized housing stock. Tenant-based programs accounted for 27.8% and public housing accounted for 24.6%.
Privately-owned, project-based assistance was the most common type of housing program in 2023.
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Keep exploring
- 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.
- What’s in Trump’s 2026 budget proposal? - The fiscal year 2026 budget proposal would keep base discretionary spending level.
- How many people live in subsidized housing in Providence County, RI?
- 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.
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