How many subsidized housing units are available in Tennessee?
Data updated August 27, 2024
About 106,327 in 2023. Approximately 12% of these were unoccupied and available to rent.
This means that around 12,759 subsidized housing units were unoccupied and available in Tennessee in 2023.
In summary, Tennessee had a total of 106,327 subsidized housing units in 2023, with about 12,759 of them unoccupied and available for 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
106K
subsidized housing units existed in Tennessee
In 2023
12.8K
subsidized housing units were unoccupied and available to rent
In 2023
12%
of all subsidized housing units were available to rent
There were about 94,490 occupied subsidized housing units in Tennessee in 2022, and around 933,712 occupied rental units — subsidized and unsubsidized — in the state. That means about 10.1% of all occupied rentals in Tennessee were provided by housing assistance programs. In 2022, 11% of all subsidized units in Tennessee were vacant, compared with 5.4% of all rental properties.
The number of available subsidized housing units varies throughout Tennessee. 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, Lake 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. These account for 53.7% of the subsidized housing stock in the United States. In Tennessee, tenant-based programs are less common than in the US, accounting for 38.6% of the subsidized housing stock.
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 43.4% of all subsidized housing in Tennessee.
The remainder of subsidized units — 18% of the total — are public housing, where units are built and managed by local housing agencies.
