Community Housing Services
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 7,300 community housing providers in the US offer emergency and transitional housing. Firms may also subsidize housing using existing homes, apartments, hotels, or motels. The industry includes organizations that provide low-cost housing in partnership with the homeowner who assists in construction or repair of a home (Habitat for Humanity) and that repair homes for the elderly or disabled homeowners.
Dependence on Government Funding
The community housing industry is dependent on government funding, which accounts for about 60% of social assistance (over 40% of total revenue).
Shift to Permanent Housing
Government policy that prioritizes ending homelessness quickly has created more permanent housing solutions for the homeless.
Industry size & Structure
The average community housing provider employs between 16 and 23 workers and generates around 2.7 million annually.
- The community housing industry consists of about 7,300 organizations that employ about 172,000 workers and generate almost $20 billion annually.
- The industry is highly fragmented; the top 50 companies account for between 25.8% and 29.2% of industry revenue.
- Most organizations are small and independent and operate at a local level. National organizations like Habitat for Humanity are the exception. Almost all organizations (over 95%) are tax-exempt.
- The community housing industry is part of a complex network of emergency shelters, transitional housing, permanent supportive housing, and public housing.
- Temporary shelters account for 48% of establishments and 44% of revenue. Other types of community housing account for 52% of establishments and 56% of revenue.
- US cities with the largest homeless populations include Los Angeles; New York; Seattle; San Jose, CA; and Oakland, CA.
Industry Forecast
Community Housing Services Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Jul 16, 2024 - Labor Costs Increase
- Community housing service industry employment and wages for nonsupervisory employees increased slightly during the first five months of 2024, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Personal income, an indicator of demand for individual and family services, increased 4.69% year over year and 0.51% month over month in March, according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis. Demand for individual and family services is likely to decrease as personal income increases.
- The Biden Administration finalized updates to the Office of Management and Budget’s Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance, which sets the foundational requirements for agencies in making grants and providing other forms of federal financial assistance. The community housing industry is dependent on grants and donations to fund operations, although dependence varies by type of operation. The updates to what is known as the Uniform Grants Guidance will streamline and clarify requirements for federal funding so recipients can invest in mission outcomes rather than in administrative overhead, according to the Administration. The updated Uniform Grants Guidance also instructs agencies to make grant announcements as clear and concise as possible to make it easier for eligible recipients to access critical funding. The Federal government provides more than $1.2 trillion in funding per year for thousands of programs through grants and other forms of financial assistance.
- Stock market gains, growth in personal income, and higher net worth are expected to result in a 4.2% increase in charitable giving in 2024 and another 3.9% increase in 2025, according to the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. The projected increase is greater than the average growth rate of giving since 2005, and is expected to surpass 10-year, 25-year, and 40-year annualized growth averages. The average rate of growth for giving from 2005 to 2014 — a period covering the 2007-08 financial crisis and subsequent recession — was 1%. The average growth rate from 2015 to 2024 is expected to have been 1.9%.
- Homelessness increased 0.3% from 2020 to 2022, a period marked by both pandemic-related economic disruptions and robust investments of federal resources into human services, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Homelessness increased 6% from 2017 through 2022. Counts of homeless individuals (421,392 people) and chronically homeless individuals (127,768) reached record highs in 2022.
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