In 2023, the median value of single-family homes in Rhode Island increased by 15.1%, marking the greatest increase in the country, according to a new report from HousingWorks RI.
Since HousingWorks RI began 20 years ago, the organization’s annual fact book has provided a comprehensive look at the relationship between housing and economic impacts for Rhode Island residents.
According to Brenda Clement, executive director of HousingWorks RI, the high share of “cost-burdened” individuals — homeowners and renters who pay more than 30% of their income toward housing costs — has been “a persistent problem for over 20 years.”
The fact book states that, “Of the more than 32,000 lowest income renter households, 55 percent, or 17,686 of them are severely cost burdened, meaning they are spending more than half of their income on housing.” The report adds that “an additional 17,043 households earning up to $59,172 are also severely cost burdened.”
Clement explained that even high-income levels are burned with spending too much of their income on housing, which means having to make sacrifices such as not buying a second car or going on a trip. But, “as you go further down the income level, those choices become much more dire,” she said.
This year was the first time since the organization began collecting data that there was no municipality where households with an income under $100,000 could affordably purchase a single-family home, Clement noted.
According to the report, the state’s median household income is $81,370. In Woonsocket the necessary income to buy a home is $119,123 — the lowest in the state.
For renters, the numbers are no better.
Clement described renters as particularly “hard-pressed in this market.” Affordably renting a two-bedroom for the average price of $2,107 requires an income of more than $84,000. According to Clement, this exceeds the state’s median rental income by more than $40,000.
“Our colleagues at the food bank say all the time that rent eats first,” she added.
The report also details how rising housing costs in Rhode Island have had an increasing impact on economic stability in the state.
While a national report found that the hourly full-time wage needed to rent a modest home in Rhode Island was $33.20, HousingWorks RI calculated that affordably renting or buying in the state requires an hourly wage of $40.52 and $69.08, respectively.
Melina Lodge, executive director of The Housing Network of Rhode Island, emphasized that “there is a broad swath of Rhode Islanders who are struggling with housing these days. It’s not just a low-income problem anymore.”
The high prices partially stem from a housing shortage in the state. When asked why Rhode Island is so behind compared to the rest of the country in housing production, Lodge said part of it came down to the state’s size. “At the end of the day, we’re only so big,” she said.
Zoning also plays a large role. Lodge explained that 87% of housing in Rhode Island is zoned for single-family homes, referencing a statistic from the organization’s Zoning Atlas. “That means one house per lot. There’s only so many lots that can happen in a small state.”
Rhode Island is also behind nationally in homeownership rates for minority households. National homeownership rates for Black, Hispanic and Asian households are nine, 14 and eight percentage points higher than Rhode Island’s, respectively, according to the fact book.
Minority groups have been often left out of “what is the best wealth creation strategy that we have: owning your own home,” Clement said.
Increased attention on building multi-family homes, improving existing housing stock and creating more affordable housing are some of the many changes needed to fix Rhode Island’s housing crisis, Lodge said.
The state’s worsening homelessness crisis is also deeply tied to the housing shortage, according to Kerri Tallman, a communications and development associate for The Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness.
In 2024, the Point In Time Count, an initiative which counts the number of “sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single night” found that 2,442 people were without housing on January 24 of this year.
“The 2024 fact book confirms what we have already known — the housing situation in Rhode Island is dire, leading to increased numbers of people becoming homeless,” Tallman said. “As our January 2024 Point In Time Count indicated, homelessness rose 34.9 percent since the PIT prior to the impact of COVID-19.”
The HousingWorks RI fact book found that student homelessness has been a particular issue in Rhode Island since the pandemic.
“All state and local leaders need to invest time and resources into addressing this growing crisis. Housing is a human right,” said Tallman.
Sanai Rashid was raised in Brooklyn and now lives in Long Island, New York. As an English and History concentrator, she is always looking for a way to amplify stories and histories previously unheard. When she is not writing, you can find her trying new pizza places in Providence or buying another whale stuffed animal.
