Livingston County needs to develop thousands of new affordable housing units, study finds
There's a big gap between the current number of housing units coming on the market and demand in Livingston County, and experts said the county will need 16,000 new units over the next 10 years.
A Housing Needs Analysis, funded by the Howell Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Council of Livingston County, found that because Livingston County's current housing stock is already limited, higher-income residents are renting below their means.
"We have a lot of big, beautiful homes on big lots, but we also know that 70% of the people that work in Livingston County can't afford those type of homes," said Eileen Zilch, CEO of Community Catalysts, a nonprofit based in Howell. "At the end of 2025, the average price of a for-sale home in Livingston County was over $450,000."
Zilch said the price in the county is too high, given that more than half of the residents earn an average of about $55,000 a year. The study found that the county needs all kinds of housing: apartments, smaller single-family homes, and condos.
"If we keep building what we've built, we're not going to get even close to what we need, and we already have severe housing needs in Livingston County, especially on the affordability side," said Zilch.
"They will gobble up the lower-priced homes, the rental properties that are lower priced. If the market doesn't provide that higher rent, higher, larger size home that they're looking for, and then that puts even more intense pressure on the lower wage earner, and basically prices them out of the market."
Zilch said the fix is relatively simple — more housing, thoughtfully developed.
"If we do it in a smart way, which is what we're advocating--we're just trying to serve our kids. We're trying to serve teachers, police officers, daycare workers, people who serve us in restaurants," said Zilch.