Understanding Our Region Starts Here With Data & Insights

Good decisions come from good information. That’s why Housing Forward invests in housing data, not to fill reports that sit on shelves, but to give communities, employers, local leaders, and builders the clearest possible picture of what’s happening on the ground across our eight-county region.

We don’t have enough homes across the eight counties in our region. The numbers tell us that clearly. But data alone doesn’t build houses or change policy when we communicate what the numbers actually mean for our neighbors, our employees, and the future of our communities.

This page is where the data lives, and this is where we connect what we know to what we can do.

Where Our Data Comes From

In 2024, Housing Forward, alongside its predecessor organization, worked with Bowen National Research, one of the nation’s leading housing research firms, to conduct a comprehensive Housing Needs Assessment across Region G. These assessments drew from multiple sources to build a complete picture of each community:

U.S. Census Bureau and American Community Survey: population trends, household composition, income, and housing cost data
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): cost burden thresholds, fair market rents, and Area Median Income calculations
Local permit and building records: what's actually being built, where development is happening, and how housing supply is changing over time
Employer and workforce surveys: what businesses need from the housing market to recruit and retain workers
Field research and on-the-ground interviews: the human layer that numbers alone can't capture

Our Goal Was To Ground Every Data Point In Local Reality

How We Break It Down

Regional numbers can feel abstract. A shortfall of 31,000 homes across eight counties is significant, but it doesn’t tell a family in Clare County, or an employer in Bay City, prospective employees, or a senior in Isabella County what the situation looks like.

That's Why We Organize
Data At Multiple Levels:

Regional View

Showing the full eight-county picture, showing total housing need, rental gaps, for-sale gaps, cost burden rates, and housing age across Arenac, Bay, Clare, Gladwin, Gratiot, Isabella, Midland, and Saginaw Counties.

Rental vs. For-Sale

Where we separate rental housing need from for-sale need, because the tools, partners, and policies that address each are different. Our region needs more of both.

County-Level Detail

With each county has its own housing story. Saginaw County has the largest rental housing gap in our region. Midland County has a median home price that outpaces what the typical household can actually afford. Clare and Gladwin face aging housing stock that stretches homeowners already working with tight budgets. We make each county’s data readable and actionable, not just available.

Income Tier Breakdowns

Looking at housing need across income groups, because the shortage isn’t just one problem. Households earning below 60% of Area Median Income face one set of challenges. Workforce households earning between $45,000 and $100,000 face another. Seniors on fixed incomes face a third. Understanding who is most affected helps communities target solutions wisely.

What the Data Is Telling Us

Across Region G, The Pattern Is Clear & Consistent:

We Do Not Have Enough Homes

When there aren’t enough homes to go around, competition drives up prices. Rising prices push people out, workers, young families, seniors looking to downsize, new residents an employer just recruited. When people can’t find a home they can afford close to where they work, everyone feels it.

Cost Burden Is Widespread

When a household spends more than 30% of its income on housing, less is available for groceries, healthcare, childcare, and savings. In our region, nearly half of renters and one in five homeowners are in that position. That’s not a statistic to scroll past, it’s your neighbor, your coworker, your employee.

Our Housing Stock
Is Aging

Nearly half of the homes in our region were built before 1970. Maintaining aging homes costs money. When families are already stretched thin by high housing costs, deferred maintenance becomes a slow-moving challenge that affects entire neighborhoods.

The Shortage Spans Every Income Level & Every Country

This is not a Saginaw problem or a Midland problem. It is a regional challenge that requires regional solutions, and local leadership.

Senior Housing Demand
Is Growing

By 2029, the number of senior households in Region G is projected to grow by more than 7,300. Planning for accessible, age-friendly housing options now is how we make sure our communities can support every generation.

From Data
to Action

Housing Forward uses data as a foundation, not a finish line. We share it with local elected officials, planning commissions, developers, employers, school districts, and community organizations so that conversations about housing start from a shared understanding of real need.

Download Your Community's Data

All Data Sourced From

Want to Go Deeper?

If you’re a local leader, developer, employer, or community partner who wants to understand what the data means for a specific project, policy, or decision, we’re here for that conversation.

Housing Forward is the Region G lead for Michigan’s Statewide Housing Partnership, coordinated through the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA). Our mission is to develop and rehabilitate attainable housing throughout Region G (Arenac, Bay, Clare, Gladwin, Gratiot, Isabella, Midland & Saginaw Counties)