Seattle leads the way in affordable housing production among major U.S. metros, according to a report from RentCafe.
Doug Trumm covers the story in The Urbanist, noting that Seattle produced 14,290 affordable apartments over the last five years, narrowly beating New York City, which produced 14,240 units in the same time period.
Seattle spends a total of almost $350 million per year on affordable housing. The city’s housing levy, in place since the 1980s and renewed in 2023, provides $139 million in annual funding for affordable housing. “In 2025, Seattle voters approved another dedicated revenue source, this time focused on social housing. An ‘excess compensation’ tax hitting high earners who make more than $1 million per year is expected to raise more than $50 million annually for the recently launched Seattle Social Housing Developer, which is pursuing a mixed-income model popularized in cities like Vienna.”…