Full and original column posted on Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
Worcester is and always has been a renting community.
According to the 2025 Worcester Almanac, 58% of Worcester housing stock is renter-occupied; 60% of children under 18 live in renter households; 33% of renters are 64 and older. In Worcester, fair market rent for a two-bedroom is $2,387; to afford this without being cost-burdened a household needs to earn $95,476. The median household income in Worcester is $67,544.
According to a 2022 Worcester Regional Research Bureau report, “Static Incomes, Rising Costs,” over half of renter households are cost-burdened, spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs. Low-income households are extremely cost-burdened, paying more than 50% of their income on housing costs. According to the national low-income housing coalition, seniors and people with disabilities represent 63% of extremely low-income households in Massachusetts.
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