Metro Boston Will Need Up to 435K Housing Units By 2040

BOSTON-Two out of five workers in Greater Boston will be retired by the year 2030, so the region must attract younger workers from elsewhere if the economy is to keep growing,says a report from the Metropolitan Area Planing Council. MAPC's report says that housing those young workers, in addition to the growing senior population, will require the creation of 435,000 new housing units—mostly multifamily, and mostly in urban areas—by 2040.

The report makes projections based on two possible scenarios: the "Status Quo" scenario, based on current rates of births, deaths, migration and housing occupancy; and the "Stronger Region" scenario, exploring “how changing trends could result in higher population growth, greater housing demand, and a substantially larger workforce." Evene the Status Quo scenrio would require the creation of 305,000 housing unts across Metro Boston, defined as 164 cities and towns across Eastern Massachusetts, over the next quarter-century.

Under the Status Quo scenario, the region's population would grow 6.6% over the next three decades. The population age 65 and older would increase by 82%, while the working-age population would remain essentially unchanged.

“More than a million of the region's workers will be retired by the year 2030,” says Marc Draisen, MAPC's executive director. “To fill those jobs and grow the economy we need to reverse the trends that see so many young workers leaving Metro Boston.”

A key factor in attracting these younger workers, according to MAPC's report, is building the kinds of housing they prefer. This could result in a “Stronger Region” scenario with a total population increase of 12.6%. The population age 25 to 64 would increase 7%, adding 175,000 new workers to the labor force.