“It is hard to argue that housing is not a fundamental human need. Decent, affordable housing should be a basic right for everybody in this country. The reason is simple: without stable shelter, everything else falls apart.”
-Matthew Desmond, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
Wake County, North Carolina is located in the middle of the state and is home to Raleigh, the state capital. Its towns of Cary, Morrisville, and Apex have consistently been ranked as some of the best places to live in the United States. However, this is not the view of all its residents. Wake and surrounding counties house several prominent research institutions, including Duke University, The University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University (NC State). These towns, universities, the proximity to the state capitol, as well as its home for Research Triangle Park (RTP), the largest research park in the United States, have brought people from all over the world to live and work. The county growth is projected to continue as large companies like Apple and Amazon build new centers in the area.
The population of Wake County has nearly doubled from 633,000 to 1.1 million in the past decades.
Housing has not kept up with demand.
As a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find affordable housing in Wake County.
41% of renters in Wake County HAVE TROUBLE PAYING THEIR MONTHLY RENT
16,593 families in wake county faced eviction in 2019
The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the already problematic housing in Wake County, creating a difficult cycle where the housing crisis has become even more of a health crisis, and the health crisis has created even more of a housing crisis. According to Eviction Lab. North Carolina ranked at only a 1.84 out of 5 for its COVID-19 housing response. This will likely have longer-term effects for the housing market.
With unemployment at an all-time high, medical bills pouring in, and children needing supervision because of the move to virtual education, those who have been on the verge of homelessness now find themselves fully there, living in cars, homes, or in shelters to survive. The wait for affordable housing is already incredibly long with a current gap of 17,000 affordable housing units in Wake County and some 1,000 units lost each year.
Food Service
$18,980
Childcare
$21,690
Retail
$25,860
Healthcare
$29,690
Construction
$31,110
Police Officer
$51,640
