The 5 major cities with the most empty houses in America — and the 5 with the least
Some cities have more than a third of their homes sitting empty, while others are in desperate need of more housing
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It's no secret that the U.S. is in a housing crisis, one that requires millions more units of affordable housing if it's ever going to be solved. But the contours of that crisis look different depending on where you live.
Some markets are flooded with tenants desperate for a decent rental, while others have thousands of homes sitting empty, waiting for anyone to buy or rent.
Lance Surety Bonds, a Pennsylvania-based bond company, analyzed data from the U.S. Census and real estate revenue software firm CommercialEdge to see which major metro areas have the most and least vacancies.
Continue reading to see which areas made the list:
5th highest vacancy rate: Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater
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The Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater, FL metro area came in fifth, with a housing vacancy rate of 13.3%.
4th highest vacancy rate: Tucson
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The Tucson, Arizona metro area came in fourth, with a housing vacancy rate of 14.2%.
3rd highest vacancy rate: Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach
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The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Florida metro area came in third, with a housing vacancy rate of 14.7%.
2nd highest vacancy rate: North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota
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The North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, Florida metro area came in second, with a housing vacancy rate of 23.7%.
Highest vacancy rate: Cape Coral–Fort Myers
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The Cape Coral–Fort Myers, Florida metro area has the highest housing vacancy rate of 38.7%.
5th lowest — TIE: Washington D.C.
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The Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro area tied for the fifth-lowest housing vacancy rate of 5.1%.
5th lowest — Tie: Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue
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The Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue, Washington metro area tied for fifth with a housing vacancy rate of 5.1%.
3rd lowest: San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara
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The San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara, California metro area has the third-lowest housing vacancy rate of 4.5%
2nd lowest: Grand Rapids–Wyoming
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The Grand Rapids–Wyoming, Michigan metro area has the second-lowest housing vacancy rate of 3.7%.
Lowest: Worcester
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The Worcester, Massachusetts metro area has the lowest housing vacancy rate of 3.6%.