How many subsidized housing units are available in Rhode Island?
About 38,642 subsidized housing units in Rhode Island in 2023. Approximately 9% 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 programs overseen by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Showing data for
In 2023
38.6K
subsidized housing units existed in Rhode Island
In 2023
3.5K
subsidized housing units were unoccupied and available to rent
In 2023
9%
of all subsidized housing units were available to rent
There were about 35,163 occupied subsidized housing units in Rhode Island in 2022, and around 163,934 occupied rental units — subsidized and unsubsidized — in the state. That means 21.45% of all occupied rentals in Rhode Island were provided by housing assistance programs. In 2022, 9% of all subsidized units in Rhode Island were vacant, compared with 3.5% of all rental properties.
The number of available subsidized housing units varies throughout Rhode Island. 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 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, providing 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. These vouchers account for 53.66% of the subsidized housing stock. In Washington state, tenant-based programs are more common than in the US.
Privately-owned, project-based 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 46.8% of all subsidized housing in Rhode Island.
The remainder of subsidized units — 23.39% of the total — are public housing, where units are built and managed by local housing agencies.
