In Massachusetts, the Fiscal Year 2025 ELI threshold for a two-person household ranges from $27,450 in parts of the South Coast and $28,750 in Berkshire County to almost $40,000 in Metro Boston and on 10 Nantucket. For a family of four, the range is $34,300 to $49,700. As of 2023 (the most recent data available), there were approximately 470,000 households with ELIs in Massachusetts4 , including approximately 320,000 renter households--just under a third of all renter households (30.7%) across the state.5
These households span a diverse range of household types: 40% include at least one member with earned income6, 50% have at least one member with retirement income7, and 22% include at least one member receiving public assistance from a cash safety-net program.8 A four-person household at the upper end of the ELI income range ($48,000 annually) is considered cost burdened if they spend more than $1,200 per month on housing and is considered severely cost burdened if they spend more than $1,800 per month on housing.9 As a result, there is a significant gap between what households with ELIs can pay and the median rent in every region of the Commonwealth. Fair market rent data published by HUD indicates that the typical rent for a two-bedroom unit (the smallest that could serve a four-person household) ranges from $1,500 in the New Bedford area to more than $2,900 in the Boston market.
Family-sized homes for rental or ownership at these price points are extremely scarce, and even housing marketed as “affordable” to households at 60 or 80% of AMI is typically unattainable for households with ELIs without additional subsidies such as rental vouchers.
When considering the income and purchasing power of households with ELIs, it is important to note that tax programs such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit are not considered income for the purpose of tabulating rents for housing programs but still play a role in increasing spending power for some eligible households with ELIs. For example, the hypothetical four-person household with $48,000 of earned income described above represents a near-optimal scenario for each of these tax programs. This household would be eligible for over $3,000 of federal Earned Income Tax Credits in 202410, as well as $1,700 of refundable Additional Child Tax Credits per child ($3,400 total). Massachusetts also provides an additional 40% of the value of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) as a state credit—for this hypothetical family the value of this credit would be $1,200. Smaller deductions like the Massachusetts renter deduction may provide further tax relief of up to $200 if the family rents. Taken together, these tax benefits can be substantial, equaling $7,800 of additional spending power.11 Please also note, however, that this represents a high scenario for each of these tax programs. For a hypothetical single-person household with earned income of $10,000, the total federal EITC would be $632, while the state EITC would be $253. A household with no earned income would be wholly ineligible for the EITC, as would any taxpayers who do not have social security numbers valid for employment.
Generally, there are two different types of income-restricted housing: units with a fixed below-market rent considered affordable to households at a specified AMI, and units with rents based on household income. Because incomes for households with ELIs are so low, these households rely heavily on units with rents based on income. A recent analysis conducted by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and Housing Navigator estimated that there is a total of 153,300 units in Massachusetts with rents based on income, all of which would be affordable to households with ELIs. This group includes approximately 71,000 federal- and state-supported public housing units as well as approximately 82,000 privately owned units with project-based vouchers. Meanwhile, there are approximately 1,900 fixed below-market rent units that are targeted to households with ELIs. All told, there are just over two households with ELIs for every unit with rents affordable to those households.
Of the units with rents based on income, Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) and Housing Navigator estimate that 121,000 are occupied by households with ELIs, constituting 38% of all households with ELIs. Only 1% of households with ELIs are in units with fixed rents set at the 30% AMI limit. Meanwhile, 61% of households with ELIs are in unrestricted market-rate housing; though some of those may be assisted by mobile vouchers that close the gap between the contract rent and what the household can pay. Future research and analysis by EOHLC and its partners will seek to investigate how many households with ELIs are in unrestricted units without voucher support.
Massachusetts has a limited inventory of rental units affordable to households with ELIs without vouchers, even those willing to pay up to 50% of their income on rent. According to Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy data from HUD, the number of vacant units available for rent at prices affordable to very low income (VLI) households (equivalent to 50% cost burden for households with ELIs) declined to 13,800 between 2017–2021, down from 25,300 between 2007–2011.12
Low vacancy rates in rental units throughout the Commonwealth contribute to lack of affordability for households with ELIs. When many households are looking for housing, but not enough units are available on the market, landlords are able to raise their rents because would-be tenants have few other options. This includes units at the low end of the market that would otherwise be available to households with ELIs. Despite the growth in households and housing units, the number of homes available for rent has been declining for the past twenty years. Between 2006–2010, there were an estimated 54,300 homes for rent at any given time. By 2018–2022, the estimated number of vacant units for rent—at any price—had dropped to 35,400. It must also be noted that increasing property taxes, and utility and insurance costs combine with this lack of inventory to further exacerbate increasing rents.
Not only does increasing rents result in fewer units available for households with ELIs, but they also ultimately reduce the number of vouchers available. Rental housing vouchers cover the difference between what a renter household can pay, often 30% of their total income, and what a landlord is charging for rent. There are different types of housing vouchers, with different funding sources, eligibility, and usage limits. There are long waitlists across both federal and state programs as appropriated funding falls well short of covering the entire eligible population. Furthermore, the current limits in housing supply have created significant challenges for voucher programs as rising rental costs outpace program funding, while EOHLC has had to increase payment standards and implement other costly measures to ensure vouchers are competitive in the market. The cost for each federal Section 8 voucher increased from $1,094 in 2020 to $1,585 in 2024. 13 Similarly, the cost of each state mobile voucher increased from $967 in fiscal year 2020 to $1,574 in fiscal year 2024. This increase drives up cost for the program and results in long waitlists for vouchers. Near its peak in 1990, the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP) provided vouchers to approximately 20,000 households.14 Funding cuts to the program through the early 2000s reduced the number of vouchers provided significantly, with only 5,200 households supported in 2009.15 However, the Commonwealth has since made steady progress in increasing funding for the program. As a result, MRVP now sustains 13 roughly 11,000 total vouchers, including 6,483 actively leased mobile vouchers and 4,483 project-based vouchers, while the Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP) provides 862 vouchers.16 In January 2025, HLC announced a pause in issuing and re-issuing new mobile vouchers in response to the state’s constrained fiscal environment and in order to maintain support for existing voucher holders. Project-based vouchers remain available for new developments.
Unfortunately, there is limited information about the number of subsidized units that are accessible to households with ELIs that include people with disabilities. Housing Navigator Massachusetts maintains a database of affordable accessible housing units. The organization recently collected data from property owners across the state and while the data is not comprehensive, they found that there are 10,200 accessible deed restricted affordable units in Massachusetts (excluding naturally occurring affordable and accessible housing, and closed referral programs such as Community Based Housing and Section 811). 17 Approximately 60% of these units have rents based on income, making them affordable to households with ELIs. This includes 2,400 accessible public housing units and 3,770 privately-owned accessible units with rents based on income.
There are also unrestricted accessible units, but few of these are truly available for households with ELIs, and not only because of cost. Accessible units can be rented to anyone, and most households with ELIs with disabilities can’t afford market rate units that do become available. It’s likely that many accessible units are occupied by households who don’t need those features. This results in both a shortage and a mismatch. Because of their limited resources and already high rates of cost burden, households with ELIs face heightened risk of homelessness and have little capacity to absorb rent increases or unexpected expenses. Some also require supportive services to remain stably housed. The number of households with ELIs is expected to rise as Massachusetts population ages and income inequality deepens. Analysis from the Commonwealth’s 2025 Statewide Housing Needs Assessment projects significant growth in the number of households headed by individuals over age 75 between today and 2035. Many of these households will consist of one or two people living on fixed incomes such as Social Security or modest retirement savings. With these fixed income retirement benefits as their primary source of income, households headed by older adults who are not already ELI are likely to become 14 households with ELIs as costs continue to outpace cost-of-living adjustments assessed on their fixed incomes.
At the same time, income inequality is deepening across the Commonwealth. The 2025 Housing Needs Assessment notes that although higher-income households (those earning 120% or more of AMI) have experienced robust income gains, wages for low- and very low-income workers have remained largely stagnant. This divergence means that an increasing share of working households will find themselves unable to afford housing at market rents. Rising housing, utility, and healthcare expenses compound this dynamic, eroding limited earnings and pushing more families below the 30% AMI threshold that defines ELI status.
All of these factors work in tandem. More seniors are aging into fixed incomes on one end, and more workers with stagnant wages are unable to keep up with costs on the other. The result is a projected expansion of the ELI population, underscoring the urgency of producing deeply affordable housing and expanding rental assistance to prevent further displacement and homelessness. Even absent these trends, the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) estimates indicate a current shortage of 183,253 units of housing affordable to households with ELIs to meet existing need, based on current availability of 44 units affordable to households with ELIs for every 100 households with ELIs.19 Compared to NLIHC’s earliest available Gap Report in 2019, Massachusetts’ shortage of ELI housing was estimated at 169,809 units (based on 2019 availability of 46 units affordable to households with ELIs for every 100 households with ELIs), it is clear that this gap will not close without intervention.20 This will hold true even if market rents decline due to robust production because market rents are so far out of reach for households with ELIs. Taken together, these demographic trends, the existing shortage of ELI housing, and trends showing the continued loss of ELI housing over time, make clear the need for urgent action to increase the production and preservation of ELI housing.