Delaware is short more than 19,400 affordable residences for renters who earn 50% or less of the state’s area median income, or about $32,000 a year.
That’s according to the 2023 Delaware Housing Needs Assessment, which underscores the need for inexpensive units statewide.
The lack of housing is one of the top barriers contributing to poverty in the First State and beyond.
It is especially needed in our two largest cities: Wilmington and Dover, which respectively have a 24% and 20.5% poverty rate, more than double the state’s 9.4% number, according to the University of Delaware Center for Community Research & Service’s 2023 report on poverty in Delaware.
“There is a lack of housing, period. There’s a lack of affordable housing. Housing (access) is really the crux of it, being able to identify these communities for stable, secure housing,” said Stephanie Griffin, director of housing development for the Delaware State Housing Authority.
That absence of options in general, coupled with rising costs, has put many residents in unstable living situations.