New research commissioned by the National Apartment Association (NAA) and the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) and conducted by Hoyt Advisory Services confirms what those in the apartment industry have long known: Apartments and their residents provide a monumental contribution to the economy on a national, state and local levels. The industry and its residents contribute more than $3.4 trillion annually to the national economy, which breaks down to $9.3 billion daily or, to put that into perspective, enough to buy six major league baseball franchises every day. In addition to the national data, the report provides a detailed breakout of the economic impact by state and in 50 metro areas.
To fully measure the impact of the entire industry, the research examined dollars and jobs supplied by four different – nationally and on an annual basis, resident spending contributes $3.0 trillion; operations adds $175.2 billion; new construction brings $150.1 billion; and renovation and repair adds $68.8 billion. Additionally, for the first time ever, this year’s study also examined how the apartment industry and its residents contribute taxes to national, state and local economies. Tax payments associated with apartment operations, as well as tax payments by apartment residents, contributed $408.9 billion to the national economy. These taxes support schools, improvements to local infrastructure and other critical services in communities across the country.
Importantly, lawmakers will not only have a hard time ignoring the undeniable value of these communities, but also their desirability. The demand for apartments continues to grow – we need to build 328,000 apartments each year at a variety of price points just to meet existing demand – and new apartment construction, alongside renovation and repair of existing stock, will continue to have a tremendous impact for years to come.
To read the full report, and view the data by state and metro area, visit www.weareapartments.org.