Housing
Understanding residents’ housing needs, housing stock characteristics, and development activity across the region is crucial to community development and planning. Community development researchers support and inform both housing policy and related grantmaking by:
- Conducting annual surveys of local governments to capture residential development activity and new affordable housing production
- Highlighting relevant demographic shifts and population growth patterns that may change the regional housing needs of today and tomorrow
- Learning directly from residents about their housing needs and preferences to inform policy direction
Metropolitan Council's community development division includes the Metro Housing and Redevelopment Authority (Metro HRA) and the Livable Communities and Housing Policy departments. The
Housing section of this website describes regional housing planning and policy and Metro HRA services.
Related information
Housing Affordability Estimates
"Housing affordability" describes the relationship between housing costs and household incomes. The most recent housing affordability estimates were published in April 2026 and describe housing affordability in 2024.
Community development researchers prepare annual estimates that express the cost of all housing units and the income of all households as shares of Area Median Income (AMI). AMI is a measure of median income for family households in the Twin Cities metro calculated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY ESTIMATES PAGE COMING IN MAY 2026
Residential Development
Housing units gained or lost in the region's cities, townships, and counties are published annually in our residential building permit datasets. These data have a six-month lag. Residential building permits for a given calendar year are published the following May.
We survey local governments annually about development activity like building permits and demolitions. We validate and supplement this data with other secondary sources. Several datasets are available: some offer long-term trend (back to 1970) and others geographic detail (address-level files).
Housing Stock Estimates
To create the inputs needed for our annual population and household estimates, community development researchers develop a count of housing units by type at the local level. Housing stock estimates have a one-year lag. The most current dataset was published in July 2025 and describes the housing stock in 2024.
Housing stock estimates start with the count of all housing units from the most recent decennial census (now 2020). Units are then added or subtracted based on residential development activity provided by local governments and other secondary data sources.
HOUSING STOCK ESTIMATES PAGE COMING IN JULY 2026
Community Leaders' Housing Policy Recommendations
Qualitative research is invaluable in policy development because it offers a nuanced understanding of underlying motivations, perceptions, and behaviors of individuals and communities.
In 2024, community development researchers and staff engaged community groups to develop innovative policy recommendations to inform the regional development guide, Imagine 2050. The Community Leader Collaboration recommendations are summarized in a series of reports, including one focused on housing policy.
Affordable Housing Production
Community development researchers survey local governments annually about the new development and preservation of affordable housing units. Affordable housing production data has an 18-month lag. The most current dataset was published in August 2025 and describes affordable housing production in 2024.
The housing costs of affordable units are expressed as as shares of Area Median Income (AMI). AMI is a measure of median income for family households in the Twin Cities metro calculated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In addition to AMI, housing unit counts are disaggregated by housing type and tenure.
Local Housing Data Tool
In March 2026, the Livable Communities and Housing Policy department published an interactive tool that provides recent trends in housing affordability, housing stock characteristics, and variations in key housing indicators by race, ethnicity, age, and income. These data are available for cities, townships, and counties in the Twin Cities region.
Twin Cities Rent Trends dashboard
Twin Cities Rent Trends compiles multiple data sources into a dashboard for analyzing rental housing market trends. Rent prices and vacancy rates are available for cities, townships, and the region overall. Rent trends data are reported quarterly and updated annually in August; the dashboard is current through Q2 2025.