How many subsidized housing units are available in Michigan?
Data updated August 27, 2024
145,622 in 2023. Approximately 11% 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 programs overseen by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Showing data for
In 2023
146K
subsidized housing units existed in Michigan
In 2023
16K
subsidized housing units were unoccupied and available to rent
In 2023
11%
of all subsidized housing units were available to rent
There were about 129,581 occupied subsidized housing units in 2022, and around 1,096,065 occupied rental units — subsidized and unsubsidized — in Michigan. That means 11.8% of all occupied rentals in Michigan were provided by housing assistance programs. In 2022, 11% of all subsidized units in Michigan were vacant, compared with 4.8% of all rental properties.
The number of available subsidized housing units varies throughout Michigan. 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, Iron County had the most 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.
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Tenant-based programs — known today as the Housing Choice Voucher program — are the most common form of housing assistance, provided 2,752,351 housing units in 2023. Housing vouchers allow recipients to choose their own housing in the private market, provided it meets program requirements. Housing vouchers account for 53.7% of the subsidized housing stock. In Michigan, tenant-based programs are less common than in the rest of the US, accounting for 45.4% of the subsidized housing stock compared to 53.7% nationally.
Tenant assistance was the most common type of housing program in 2023.
Privately-owned, project-based programs provide subsidized housing in larger, multifamily housing developments through agreements between landlords and HUD, and account for 42.26% of all subsidized housing in Michigan.
The remainder of subsidized units — 12.35% of the total — are public housing, where units are built and managed by local housing agencies.
