Voucher Density by ZIP: Housing-Choice Vouchers per Thousand Units (2026)
Voucher density turns the raw voucher count into a rate: vouchers per thousand housing units and vouchers as a share of renter households. It is the landlord's version of the Section 8 card, because a thousand vouchers in a ZIP of a hundred thousand units is a different market from a thousand in ten thousand. This report ranks the densest ZIPs with at least a thousand units and gives the national figures behind the card.
- 2,160,086 vouchers sit across 142,500,261 housing units in 33,774 ZIPs; the average voucher density is 21.6 per thousand units.
- 1,026 ZIPs run at fifty or more vouchers per thousand units, the dense band on the voucher-density card.
- 30303 in Fulton County, GA is densest at 328.1 per thousand, 442 vouchers in 1,347 units.
- The renter share on the voucher-density card shows what fraction of renting households hold a voucher.
voucher-density: the voucher-density card figures as of 2026-10-20; source HUD voucher counts and Census housing-unit and renter figures by ZIP.
| ZIP (county, state) | Vouchers per 1K units | Vouchers | Housing units | Share of renters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30303 (Fulton, GA) | 328.1 | 442 | 1,347 | 71.5% |
| 12207 (Albany, NY) | 261.2 | 409 | 1,566 | 60.3% |
| 55802 (St. Louis, MN) | 237.0 | 377 | 1,591 | 84.6% |
| 01901 (Essex, MA) | 213.1 | 250 | 1,173 | 59.2% |
| 11692 (Queens, NY) | 208.8 | 1,796 | 8,600 | 37.9% |
| 10457 (Bronx, NY) | 194.8 | 5,291 | 27,161 | 24.4% |
| 38126 (Shelby, TN) | 187.9 | 579 | 3,082 | 41.4% |
| 70112 (Orleans, LA) | 180.9 | 682 | 3,770 | 36.5% |
| 70126 (Orleans, LA) | 178.4 | 2,244 | 12,576 | 36.0% |
| 94124 (San Francisco, CA) | 176.9 | 2,112 | 11,942 | 28.8% |
ZIPs by vouchers per thousand housing units (ZIPs with 1,000+ units) (voucher-density, as of 2026-10-20)
The densest voucher markets (voucher-density)
30303 in Fulton County, GA: 328.1 per thousand units, 442 vouchers, 71.5% of renters; 12207 in Albany County, NY: 261.2 per thousand units, 409 vouchers, 60.3% of renters; 55802 in St. Louis County, MN: 237.0 per thousand units, 377 vouchers, 84.6% of renters; 01901 in Essex County, MA: 213.1 per thousand units, 250 vouchers, 59.2% of renters; 11692 in Queens County, NY: 208.8 per thousand units, 1,796 vouchers, 37.9% of renters; 10457 in Bronx County, NY: 194.8 per thousand units, 5,291 vouchers, 24.4% of renters.
What voucher-density measures
The card shows total vouchers, housing units, density per thousand units, the voucher share of renter households, the Section 8 count and the multi-family unit count, so a user sees both the rate and the stock it applies to.
How voucher-density is computed
Vouchers are HUD's housing-choice voucher counts by ZIP; units and renters are Census figures. Density is vouchers divided by units times a thousand; the renter share is vouchers divided by renter-occupied households. ZIPs under a thousand units are excluded from the ranking to keep the rate meaningful.
How to use voucher-density on a deal
A dense voucher ZIP has guaranteed rent demand at the fair-market-rent ceiling, which the FMR card states; it also has inspection and lease rules a landlord must run. For an investor buying a distressed rental, density tells you whether a voucher tenant is the likely exit and what rent that exit pays.
Read voucher-density on your ZIPs
The Section 8 radar ranks every ZIP by voucher density beside the FMR ceiling; the live board shows the card per parcel.
Voucher-density refreshes with its source table.
Voucher Density by ZIP: Housing-Choice Vouchers per Thousand Units (2026): questions
Why exclude ZIPs under a thousand units?
A handful of vouchers in a tiny ZIP produces a meaningless rate; the floor keeps the table to real rental markets.
Does density include project-based assistance?
No. The card counts housing-choice vouchers; project-based units are in the HUD multifamily dataset.
How often does it refresh?
When HUD voucher data and the Census tables refresh, which is annual for both.
More on the voucher-density card
Voucher Density by ZIP: Housing-Choice Vouchers per Thousand Units (2026) (voucher-density) is computed from HUD voucher counts and Census housing-unit and renter figures by ZIP; the voucher-density card is research (voucher-density), not legal advice; nothing on the voucher-density page is tax or voucher-density investment advice, so verify every voucher-density figure with its issuing agency before acting.