There’s a housing crisis for seniors in the U.S. happening right now. In fact it’s been building for quite some time. And I’m here to tell you this housing problem is only going to get worse.
I started Old Man Thriving to help retired men like myself improve their lives. But what I know best is housing. Because I just retired from a 30 + year career running affordable housing programs. I was Chief Operating Officer for 2 different Housing Authorities in California, and I specialized in housing development. By that I mean increasing the supply of housing available to lower income people by either building new housing or acquiring existing apartment buildings. But after 30 years of attacking affordable housing issues from every angle, I had to accept the sobering reality that it was always going to be a losing battle.
In my opinion, the U.S.doesn’t really care about housing. The Housing Secretary is probably the weakest and most inconsequential member of the president’s cabinet. Housing is not recognized as a formal legal or constitutional right under federal law in the U.S… Housing is nothing more than a commodity in this country, something that should be bought, sold and traded in large quantities. It’s therefore completely controlled by the private sector for profit purposes. That’s the way it is and always has been.
Now I don’t normally like to be an alarmist. I’m only presenting this because of my experience in housing. If I want to help retirees thrive, I’d better talk about housing, because for many and probably most of you, housing is your biggest expense, right? So the intent of this post is to make you aware of some numbers. These numbers aren’t made up. They’re sourced from the ACS (the American Community Survey), the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, and the Urban Institute. Hopefully this awareness will create a sense of urgency on your part, to begin to plan for how your housing will be impacted in years to come: that is, the cost will continue to grow, and the availability will continue to decline.
For decades, we Baby Boomers were sold a beautiful dream about retirement. We were told that if we work hard, save what we can, and pay off our mortgages, our golden years will be a time of peace, safety, and relaxation. We could think of home as our ultimate anchor. The one place where we are safe from the storms of the outside world.
But there is a quiet crisis sweeping across America, and it is dismantling this dream for millions of older adults. The hard, uncomfortable truth is that America’s housing market is completely unprepared for the reality of aging. Today, nearly one in three U.S. adults aged 65 and older are experiencing some form of housing insecurity.
This is not a small, temporary problem. We are standing in the middle of a massive demographic shift. The number of people aged 65 and over has soared since the first baby boomers retired. In just a few years, the leading edge of this generation turns 80. By 2035, the population of adults aged 80 and over will grow to nearly 24 million people, fully doubling in size from 2016.
Many of these seniors will live alone, many will have fixed, limited incomes, and many will face physical health challenges. Yet, we are on track for a worsening housing crisis because our system is failing to meet even today’s basic needs. If you are approaching retirement, or if you are already there, you cannot afford to look away. You need to worry about housing. And you need to prepare right now.
Let’s start with the group facing the most immediate threat: older renters. Renters are far more likely to face severe housing strains at all ages compared to homeowners, and they are highly vulnerable to market forces they cannot control.
Today, over 10 million households headed by someone aged 65 and over are “cost burdened,” meaning they pay more than a third of their limited income just to keep a roof over their heads. Even worse, half of those 10 million households pay more than 50 percent of their entire monthly income on housing. Imagine that: every single month, half of your income is gone before you buy a single grocery item or fill a single prescription.
For older renters, there is virtually no safety net. Today, the median older renter has a total net wealth of under $10,000. Compare that to younger workers who can change jobs, work overtime, or alter their spending habits to cope with rising costs. Retirees on fixed incomes like Social Security or modest pensions simply do not have that flexibility. When rent goes up, there is nothing left to cut. Many are forced to make impossible, dangerous choices between food, heating, and vital health care.
For over 2.2 million very low-income senior renters in America, their living situation qualifies as a “worst-case housing need”. This means they are severely cost-burdened, living in inadequate, failing housing, or both.
When these budgeting limits are pushed to the absolute edge, the result is devastating. Between 2019 and 2022 alone, the share of older adults experiencing homelessness in the United States shot up by 37 percent.
And if you think a government safety net is waiting to catch you, think again. The current safety net is full of holes. Right now, only 36 percent of income-eligible older adults actually receive federal housing assistance. The other 64 percent are left completely on their own, trapped on waitlists that can drag on for years.
Now, you might be reading this thinking, “I bought my home twenty years ago. My mortgage is paid off, or it’s at a fixed rate. This isn’t my crisis.”
But homeownership is not the shield it used to be. Senior homeowners are falling into a different kind of trap—one driven by aging structures, skyrocketing indirect costs, and declining physical health.
Over the past two decades, the number of older households considered “severely cost-burdened” (spending more than half their income on housing) has nearly doubled, exploding from around 6 million to nearly 11.7 million households. And this isn’t just about mortgage payments. For senior homeowners on fixed incomes, the pressure comes from rising utilities, soaring home insurance premiums, escalating property taxes, and home maintenance.
The houses we live in are aging right along with us. More than 75 percent of senior households live completely alone or with just one other person, yet 60 percent of them are living in large homes with three or more bedrooms. Nearly half of these large homes were built before 1980.
An older, larger house requires constant, heavy physical upkeep. Roofs leak. Heating systems fail. Foundations crack. For a senior living on a fixed retirement benefit, a broken water heater or a leaking roof isn’t just an inconvenience. It is a financial catastrophe that can ruin an entire year’s budget.
At the same time, our physical needs change as we age. But our homes do not change on their own. Our research shows that less than 4 percent of the entire housing stock in the United States offers even the most basic accessibility features. Things like a no-step entry, single-floor living, and doorways wide enough for a wheelchair. Only 10 percent of homes in the country are physically ready to accommodate an older person.
Seniors want to age in place, but they find themselves trapped in multi-story houses with steep stairs, narrow bathrooms, and slippery tubs. Modifying these homes to make them safe requires significant money. Yet, 34 percent of households headed by someone over 50 lack the financial savings to cover the median out-of-pocket costs for basic safety modifications. For renters, that number jumps to 58 percent. The house that was once a sanctuary becomes a safety hazard, exposing seniors to falls, injuries, and a loss of personal dignity.
How did we get here? Why is the wealthiest nation in the world facing a crisis where its older citizens are priced out, physically unsafe, or ending up on the streets?
It is the direct result of a massive, long-term failure in proactive housing policy on the part of the U.S. government at federal, state, and local levels. For decades, policymakers have ignored the clear, predictable demographic warnings. They knew the baby boomer generation was aging, yet they allowed the affordable housing supply to shrink.
Local zoning regulations across the country remain heavily restrictive, often banning the construction of smaller, accessible homes, accessory dwelling units, or intergenerational housing in suburban neighborhoods. There’s been a failure to fund and build enough dedicated, subsidized senior housing units, leaving a massive supply shortage at the affordable end of the market. Furthermore, they have failed to coordinate housing assistance with healthcare and long-term support services, treating them as separate issues when they are deeply connected.
The market has been left to run on autopilot, and the market is failing older Americans.
Here is the ultimate warning: You cannot rely on the system to save you.
The government is slow to act, funding is limited, waiting lists are years long, and the housing crisis is projected to get worse, not better, as the population of older adults continues to swell. If you are waiting for a proactive policy shift to fix this market before you get older, you are betting your health, your safety, and your dignity on a system that has failed to prepare.
You must take control of your own housing future, and you must do it sooner rather than later.
Do not wait until a physical fall, an unexpected tax hike, a massive rent increase, or a health crisis forces your hand. Assess your housing situation honestly while you still have the time, the clarity, and the energy. Look at your home: Is it truly accessible for the long haul? Can you afford the property taxes, insurance, and utilities on a fixed income ten years from now?
If the answer is no, start planning your transition immediately. Talk to your family. Investigate your options. The storm is coming, and the only person who can secure your shelter is you.
Prepare now, before the choice is no longer yours to make.
Again, I don’t mean to ruin your day, but this is really important. I want to do the best I can to help people out with their housing, by using my knowledge and experience running housing programs for over 30 years. I’m working on tools and resources that I’ll give away to aid in your housing searches. Subscribe to my site and stay in touch to get free access as I roll out different things. Wishing you all the best of luck. Be safe.
Peace,
Gus
