By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
Seattle’s housing affordability crisis is reshaping the demographic and economic landscape of the city and its public schools. With political leadership at every level newly elected in 2026, the urgency around affordable housing has become central to public discourse. For many families, the challenge of finding a home they can afford is no longer an abstract social issue. It is a problem driving families out of the city and shrinking student enrollment in Seattle Public Schools.
Affordable housing affects Seattle residents in multiple ways. The shortage and high cost of housing influence homeownership opportunities, the rising number of unhoused residents, long commutes for workers, and the demographic composition of school populations. City leaders, developers, and community advocates are struggling to find solutions that balance economic growth with the needs of residents. City officials, housing developers, community organizers, and Seattle families share concern over the high cost of living, particularly housing and homeownership, because they see the problem reflected in every neighborhood and every public institution.
Seattle’s newly elected mayor Katie Wilson has placed affordable housing at the center of her agenda and made clear she finds inaction unacceptable.
The cost to rent or buy a home in Seattle is far too high,” said Wilson. “Too many families are paying well over a third of their income in housing costs or leaving the city altogether. That leaves people with long, polluting commutes, and drives down enrollment at our schools. High rents also mean rising homelessness. We can’t continue to accept inaction from our elected leaders.”
According to advocates, affordable and workforce housing are critical pieces of the solution. These terms refer to homes priced for people earning between zero and 60 percent of the Area Median Income. Workforce housing is intended to be within reach for middle income workers who do not qualify for traditional subsidized housing but struggle to afford market rate units in a high cost area. The city’s Office of Housing reports that over 13,000 affordable rental homes are in operation across Seattle, yet concerns persist about whether this supply is sufficient for families who need space and stability.
Most new housing units are apartment complexes built to maximize density. These units are often too small for families of three or more. Meanwhile, home prices continue rising, putting ownership further out of reach for working-class families. Many long-term residents find themselves priced out of the city entirely as rents climb and available homes disappear. For many households earning the median income or less, the financial strain associated with housing has become overwhelming.
A City of Seattle Market Rate Housing Needs and Supply Analysis report paints a stark picture of the region’s housing challenges. The report finds that Seattle is struggling to build enough housing to meet current and future needs. Nearly 46,000 households are spending more than half of their income on housing costs. By federal standards this makes them severely cost burdened. Many households have already left the city because they can no longer afford the rapid increase in rents and housing prices. This demographic shift not only displaces long term residents but also excludes workers who must commute long distances to jobs in the city.
The inequity in homeownership further compounds the problem. Lyle Crews, property developer, lender, and president of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, highlights the racial disparities in homeownership and how those inequalities affect access to stable housing.
“When we talk about this, we have to start this conversation with the fact that 70 percent of white families in America by data are homeowners compared to only roughly 40 percent of people in the Black community,” said Crews. “So the homeownership rate is not equal and then affordability is measured by income, saying ‘Ok we are going to have to create pathways for people to create affordable housing.’”
Crews also traces the roots of the current housing shortage beyond racial inequity and income inequality. The cost of building housing has increased dramatically since the 2008 housing crash. Construction costs, high interest rates, inflation, and the influence of institutional investors buying real estate have all driven up housing prices.
“Several things have changed the homelessness dynamic even more,” Crews said. “In the last 10 years or so after the crash, the cost of building housing is way more expensive. The lack of enough housing has created a housing crisis where we do not have enough housing for everybody, and the natural cycle of housing has changed. So there has always been an affordable housing problem, but it is now exasperated by various things in the economy, the interest rates, inflation, the housing stock and as a result, you have institutional investors paying top dollar, driving up pricing, creating more difficulty.”
The human toll of the housing crisis is undeniable when viewed through homelessness statistics and school enrollment patterns. In Washington, statewide data from 2024 and 2025 show thousands of people without stable housing. Households without children alone account for nearly 23,000 people. Households with at least one adult and one child are over 2,100. Households with only children account for more than 200. In total the number of people and households experiencing homelessness in the state exceeds 31,000.
Among the many effects of the housing crisis is a demographic shift within Seattle Public Schools. As housing costs rise, families with young children are increasingly leaving the city. Seattle Public Schools conducted a survey to understand how housing affordability affects enrollment and student populations. Hailey Karcher, Enrollment and Planning Analyst for Seattle Public Schools, outlined the relationship between housing cost and school enrollment.
“Families with young children are moving out of the city, why,” Karcher asked. “One major reason is housing affordability. Seattle has become increasingly expensive, with a shortage of affordable homes to meet the growing demand for housing.”
Karcher said the impact is not evenly distributed.
“This issue also affects equity in access to schools. The city planning office’s analysis demonstrates that families most likely to be displaced due to cost are families of color,” Karcher continued. “Relatedly Seattle Public Schools internal data shows that students of color especially Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and Pacific Islander students are leaving the district at higher rates than White and Asian students.”
The combined pressures of displacement, high cost of living, and shrinking school enrollment have created anxiety among residents and leaders across city, county, and state levels. Officials from multiple agencies and community advocates acknowledge that affordable housing is a central concern affecting quality of life in the region. Karcher believes that only a coordinated approach can address the intersecting problems of homelessness, displacement, and declining school populations.
“To build a strong, equitable school system, Seattle must be a place where all families can afford to live,: said Karcher. “That means city agencies, public schools, and local government must work together to prevent displacement and support families who want to stay.”
