We have a housing crisis.
Rents and home prices are out of reach for workers essential to our community. Employers struggle to recruit first responders, teachers, health care workers, tradespeople, and other workers who are vital for our communities to thrive.
Unattainable housing impacts the quality of the services we need and depend on.
In the Midcoast, our workforce's future is at risk.
Young people who grew up here, work here, and keep our communities running are being priced out of the towns they call home.​​
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They want to stay, but there’s nowhere they can afford to live.
The Midcoast is at a tipping point.
Our region is facing a severe shortage of attainable housing, which is straining the very fabric of our communities.
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In Knox County, the median home price now exceeds $450,000. That means many working households, even those with steady, good-paying jobs, are locked out of the housing market.
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As a result, nearly 1 in 4 qualified candidates is turning down local job offers simply because they can’t find an attainable place to live in the Knox County area.
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At the same time, employers in Knox, Waldo, and Lincoln Counties will need 1,200 new workers by 2028. Workers across all industries are in demand, but without reasonably priced, year-round housing options, the workers we need cannot live in the very communities that need them most.
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This gap is especially hard on the “Missing Middle,” households earning too much to qualify for subsidized housing but not nearly enough to compete with escalating market prices.
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In Knox County, the area median income for a household of four is $100,000/year, which is 100% of AMI (Area Median Income). The MCRHT "missing middle" workforce demographic ranges from $56,000/year for a single individual to $145,000/year for a household of four. Even households earning up to $150,000/year struggle to find homes they can afford in our region.
The consequences are clear
Local businesses can’t hire the workers they need.
School emrollment declines
Residents cannot get the services they need
The Midcoast Regional Housing Trust
is tackling this crisis head-on
We are partnering with municipalities, developers, employers, and concerned citizens to provide attainable year-round housing so workers can live within a reasonable commuting distance of their jobs.
