Illinois public housing authorities are responsible for providing affordable housing to low-income residents located within their district. Some authorities – such as the housing authority in Champaign – serve an entire county. Others – such as The East St. Louis Housing Authority – are charged with only serving a city.
Throughout the state, many of these housing authorities are struggling to meet the growing demands for public housing and housing vouchers. The situation is so dire that many authorities are forced to close their waiting lists.
For instance, The Housing Authority of Cook County closed its voucher waiting list to new applicants because 8,630 people are already waiting for subsidized housing.
Likewise, The Springfield Housing Authority closed its voucher waiting list to new applicants because 3,326 people are already waiting for subsidized housing.
A survey of 108 state housing authorities in May and June by CU-CitizenAccess revealed that there are more than 77,000 people on waiting lists throughout the state.
Click on the maps below to see how Illinois counties compare across waiting lists.
For more information, read No vacancy: Getting on waiting lists for subsidized housing can take years.