Our 2015 County Profiles point to trouble for renters all across Minnesota. Rents have risen and affordable rental units are in very short supply for those who need them. This year’s profiles for each of Minnesota’s 87 counties include data not just on housing cost burden, but also on new units permitted for construction, projected needs for seniors, and affordability for top jobs-in-demand. The profiles show there is unmet need in all counties, and that Greater Minnesota counties have seen the sharpest increases in rents since 2000.

According to the data, rents have increased, even after adjusting for inflation, in 82 of the state’s 87 counties since 2000. Nine counties, all in Greater Minnesota, have seen rents rise 30% or more in this time. Meanwhile, the median renter income has fallen statewide by 17%. 

Among those impacted by unaffordable housing are children and senior citizens. For example, in 64 of 87 counties, half or more of senior renters are cost burdened by their housing costs currently. Meanwhile the number of seniors statewide is expected to increase nearly 50% by 2030.

Our counties also lack a sufficient supply of rental housing for extremely low income (ELI) renters. In over a quarter of the state’s counties, for every 100 ELI renters, there are only 30 units or fewer affordable and available to them.

While construction of more rental housing could help increase rental supply, rental construction has been at or near a standstill in half of the state’s counties. From 2009 to 2014, half of Minnesota’s counties had a total of 20 or fewer new multi-family units permitted. 

The County Profile findings remind us of the importance of investing in housing at the local, state, and federal levels.

The County Profiles, produced annually by MHP, take a comprehensive look at data for housing, homelessness, the housing stock, costs to rent and own, and workers’ wages. Check out profiles for Minnesota’s 87 counties and the state as a whole, as well as charts, maps, and summary analysis.

Join the conversation on Twitter: @followMHP and #MNCoProfiles.

Questions? Contact Leigh Rosenberg, Research & Communications Director.

Whether by choice or necessity, more and more people are renting across Minnesota. By 2010, 27% of the state’s households rented their homes, up significantly from mid-decade, according to MHP’s 2011 County Profiles, just released today. What’s more, Hennepin and Ramsey counties are by no means the only counties where renting is important.

The County Profiles show that only two of the top ten counties with the highest rental rates in Minnesota are located in the Twin Cities metro.

Ramsey (39% renter households) and Hennepin (36%) top the list, but are followed closely by Blue Earth (35%), Lyon (34%) and Benton (31%) in Greater Minnesota. (See the full Top Ten list.)

Over the course of the decade from 2000 to 2010, all ten of the counties with the largest increase in the percentage of renter households were outside of the metro area. Mahnomen, Big Stone, Mower, and Beltrami counties head up this list.

MHP’s County Profiles pull together housing data for each of Minnesota’s 87 counties—including cost and affordability for owners and renters, changes in home prices, foreclosures, homelessness, and unemployment.*

Findings include:

• Rising rents and falling incomes leave Minnesota renters in limbo, especially in a fragile economy. From 2000 to 2011, 80 of 87 Minnesota counties saw increases in rental costs, after adjusting for inflation. Based on the best available data, renter incomes decreased 17% between 1999 and 2009 statewide.
• In 25 counties, renting a modest two-bedroom apartment requires a higher income than buying a median priced home, assuming a 10% down payment and a 30-year fixed mortgage.
• Affordability is a critical concern for the state’s expanding rental population. Nearly half of the state’s renters paid more than they should for housing in 2009, by HUD’s affordability standards.
• The median home sales price ranged from a low of $40,500 in Traverse County in western Minnesota to a high of $247,500 in Carver County in the metro area in 2009-10.
• From 2006 to 2010, 74 counties (85% of counties) experienced decreases in the median home sales price, after adjusting for inflation. However, over the entire decade through 2010, 60 counties (69%) actually experienced increases in the median price.

Check out your county profile and the Top Ten lists. Do you see any surprises? Also, we welcome you to share ideas about how you plan to use the County Profiles this coming year.