Arlington Affordable Housing Crisis: Dallas-Fort Worth Faces Urgent Shortage
The United States is grappling with a severe affordable housing crisis, and the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area is among the hardest hit, according to a July 2025 report from the National Association of Realtors. Texas, with its booming population and economic growth, faces a critical shortage of affordable housing, particularly in Arlington, where rising home prices and limited supply are exacerbating challenges for low- and middle-income families. The report calls for increased housing construction and policy reforms to address the crisis, which affects over 40% of U.S. renters spending more than 30% of their income on housing.
The Scale of the Crisis in Arlington
In the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro area, the median home price reached $395,000 in June 2025, a 12% increase from 2023, while median rents for a two-bedroom apartment hit $1,800 monthly. Arlington, part of the nation’s fourth-largest metropolitan area with a population of 8.1 million, has seen its housing demand outpace supply, driven by job growth in sectors like technology and healthcare. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates that no full-time worker earning Texas’s minimum wage of $7.25 per hour can afford a one-bedroom apartment at market rates in Arlington, highlighting the acute affordability gap.
The Arlington affordable housing crisis is particularly stark for renters, with 48% of households in the 76005 ZIP code classified as cost-burdened, spending over 30% of their income on housing. The report notes a shortage of 150,000 affordable housing units in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, with Arlington alone needing an estimated 20,000 additional units to meet demand. High-end developments like Viridian, with homes starting at $230,000 and reaching into the millions, cater to affluent buyers but do little to address the needs of lower-income residents.
Driving Factors and Challenges
Several factors contribute to Arlington’s housing shortage. Rapid population growth, with Tarrant County gaining over 100,000 residents between 2020 and 2024, has strained existing housing stock. Zoning restrictions and lengthy permitting processes have slowed construction, with only 5,200 new housing units completed in Arlington from 2022 to 2024, far below the needed 10,000 annually to keep pace with demand. Rising construction costs, up 18% since 2022 due to labor and material shortages, further complicate efforts to build affordable units.
The report also highlights systemic issues, such as limited federal funding for affordable housing programs. The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), which supports 90% of affordable housing projects in Texas, has not kept up with demand, funding only 3,000 units in Tarrant County since 2020. Additionally, opposition from some Arlington residents to high-density housing projects, citing concerns about traffic and property values, has stalled developments like a proposed 200-unit affordable complex near Cooper Street in 2024.
Proposed Solutions and Policy Reforms
The National Association of Realtors report advocates for a multi-pronged approach to address the Arlington affordable housing crisis. Key recommendations include streamlining zoning and permitting processes to accelerate construction, with Arlington’s city council exploring a 2025 proposal to reduce approval times by 30%. Increasing funding for LIHTC and other subsidies could incentivize developers to prioritize affordable units, while public-private partnerships, like those seen in Viridian’s development, could be adapted to include mixed-income housing…