How many people in Essex County live in public housing in 2021?

There were 11,249 people living in taxpayer-funded public housing located throughout Essex County in 2021, according to the U.S. Census.

Public housing options in Essex County were 86% occupied during the year.

The occupancy rate decreased by 1% from the previous year, with 429 fewer people requiring public housing.

The average cost of renting a public housing unit in the area is $381. Census data showed the average annual household income for each unit was $17,009.

The year before, rent cost $375 and people living in the unit earned $16,704 a year.

Rent in these public housing units is offset by subsidies from the federal government, and many residents often receive additional assistance from social programs.

Public housing throughout the U.S. costs billions each year. The Department of Housing and Urban Development requested a budget of nearly $72 billion in 2023, which is almost $12 billion more than the previous year. This didn’t include an additional request for $35 billion to create new public housing units.

The high cost of taxpayer-funded public housing has come under scrutiny from both sides of the political spectrum.

Brookings Institute, a left-leaning think tank, found that directions given by the government about creating public housing is vague and involves municipalities that shouldn’t bear such a heavy responsibility. The Institute called public housing a short-term solution that’s too expensive.

Scott Beyer, owner of the right-leaning Market Urbanism Report, said public housing suffers due to government involvement, and claimed money is being wasted since there are so few qualified organizations to operate the public housing units.

Beyer said taxpayer-funded public housing is built “in the most expensive way possible, sticking units in nice neighborhoods and building them to an unnecessarily high standard.”