Saginaw County Community Profile

Saginaw County is the most populous county in Region G, home to approximately 78,479 households and the economic hub of our Region. It is also where the housing shortage is most acute, by nearly every measure, Saginaw County carries the heaviest housing burden of any county in the region.

The rental shortage here is the largest in Region G. Over 500 households are on rental wait lists, with some waiting a year or more for government-subsidized housing. The overall multifamily vacancy rate sits at 2.1%, well below the 4% to 6% range of a healthy market, and the tax credit vacancy rate is 0.0%. There is, effectively, no room.

The median household income in Saginaw County is $56,804, but the cost of housing is putting pressure on families across the income spectrum. More than half of Saginaw renters, 50.4%, the highest renter cost burden rate in the region, are spending more than 30% of their income on housing. More than one in four is severely cost burdened. Nearly half of all owner-occupied homes and 48% of rental stock were built before 1970, making maintenance and rehabilitation an ongoing challenge layered on top of the shortage itself.

447 new households are projected in Saginaw County by 2029, driven in part by growth among younger working-age households. Those are families that will need homes, both to rent and to buy.

Between now and 2029, Saginaw County needs 2,877 additional rental units, the largest rental gap in the region, and 8,217 additional for-sale homes, the largest for-sale gap as well. Meeting Saginaw’s housing needs is, in many ways, the work that defines whether Region G as a whole can move forward. Download the full Saginaw County profile for the complete breakdown by income level, housing type, and affordability tier.