How many subsidized housing units are available in Rutherford County, TN?
About 2,192 in 2023. Approximately 10.0% of these 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
2.2K
subsidized housing units existed in Rutherford County
In 2023
219
subsidized housing units were unoccupied and available to rent
In 2023
10%
of all subsidized housing units were available to rent
There were about 1936 occupied subsidized housing units in 2022, and around 46797 occupied rental units — subsidized and unsubsidized — in Rutherford County, TN. That means 4.1% of all occupied rentals in Rutherford County were provided by housing assistance programs. In 2022, 12.0% of all subsidized units in Rutherford County were vacant, compared with 4.3% of all available rentals.
The number of available subsidized housing units varies throughout Rutherford County, TN. 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, Rutherford County provided 59 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 Rutherford County, TN was tenant-based with 1,075 housing units. These accounted for 49% of the county’s subsidized housing stock. Privately-owned, project-based programs accounted for 48.9% and public housing accounted for 2.1%.
Tenant assistance was the most common type of housing program in 2023.
Change location to see this data for another state or county.
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 Rutherford County, TN?
- 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.
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.
