Housing for County Workers report is online

Key Takeaways

The latest report from the NACo Counties’ Futures Lab, Access to Housing: Supporting County Workers Through Affordable Homes, examines how county governments are increasingly providing housing assistance benefits to employees as a strategy to build and sustain workforces that will best serve communities.

The report describes how measuring rising housing and transportation costs is central to understanding the affordability crisis that is impacting county workers and their families. The Center for Neighborhood Technology’s (CNT) Housing + Transportation (H+T) Index illustrates the cost of living in local communities by generating a score that is based on the amount that households pay on housing costs and transportation. Only 96 out of 3,069 counties in the U.S. are affordable according to CNT’s H+T Index.

Officials from San Mateo County, Calif., Teton County, Wy. and Loudoun County, Va. shared how their jurisdictions developed and implemented affordable housing programs for employees. These case studies highlight current trends in employee housing. The key takeaways from the report include: 1) Affordable housing programs for employees help recruit talented workers; 2) These programs help retain employees who can live closer to work; and 3) Employees with affordable housing located within the county they serve are part of local communities and have fewer barriers to doing their jobs.

A copy of the report is available online at www.naco.org/AccesstoHousing. For additional resources on affordable housing and county management and operations issues, please visit the NACo Counties Futures Lab at www.naco.org/counties-futures-lab.