Housing Affordability

Throughout Cass County, we hear about high unemployment numbers while “Help Wanted” signs hang in our windows for months. Meanwhile, our talented and ambitious children have to move away to find opportunities to follow their dreams, even if they wanted to stay and raise their families here.

Many workers and young families can’t live here because there isn’t any housing they can afford. A 2026 study by the Minnesota Housing Partnership showed 26% of all Cass County households are “cost-burdened,” meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing. These families have less to spend on food, healthcare, and other basic needs, and less to save for emergencies. 

Many factors contribute to a lack of affordable housing in Cass County. For starters, from 2019 to 2024 median home values increased 21% (to $288,300) while median homeowner incomes only increased 3% (to $74,365). 

There also aren’t enough starter homes available for new homeowners even if they can afford one. A Cass County resident shares the experience of buying her first home: 

“My partner and I could only find jobs an hour apart from each other, so we had to limit our search to an area in the midpoint of our commutes. There was one rental unit in the whole area, and they raised the rent after the first year, pricing us out because there’s no competition for rentals.

“Luckily, in the first year our realtor found us a place before it went on the market, otherwise we would have been outbid. Our friends in a similar situation looked for over three years before they found a house.”

Affordable housing creates an immense positive impact on the local community. There are more people of different salary levels available to work. Investing in community development projects doesn’t accomplish much without people to work for businesses or make purchases year-round (not just summer weekends). 

The American Economic Journal estimates that between 1964 and 2009, if there were more affordable housing options for families:

• United States GDP growth would have been 13.5% higher

• There would have been a $1.7 trillion increase in income overall

• The increase translates to $8,775 in additional wages per worker

If you’re looking for housing assistance in Cass County, there are many funding sources available. The resident we spoke with said, “We were lucky our realtor knew about the USDA loan allowing us to pay $0 down. It’s the only way we could afford a house even with both of our salaries.”

Assistance only goes so far when there physically aren’t enough units, however. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) says trade wars especially on lumber, steel, and aluminum needlessly increase housing costs. 

Over 60% of builders the NAHB surveyed in 2026 reported higher material costs from tariffs, increasing home costs by $10,900 each. It doesn’t help that waging war in Iran destabilizes our supply of oil, raising gas prices and increasing operating costs. 

Cass County has found creative solutions to use save costs by using buildings we already have to create new housing, assisting in the conversion of the Lake View Motel into 13 rental units and the Pine River Inn into 33 apartment units. 

The County Commissioner’s office hopes to make the rental units as affordable as possible. 

• 225 (or 44%) of all renter households with extremely low incomes do not have access to a home they can afford. 

• 39% of renters are cost burdened 

• 20% of renters are severely cost burdened, spending more than half their income on housing

• 30% of all senior renters are severely cost burdened

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Even with the existing government assistance for housing and with the participation of local business-funded trusts like the Hackensack Lakes Area Community Foundation, more is needed to adequately support our population, according to Jason Krebsbach, Community Development Director, Central MN Housing Partnership. 

“In Greater Minnesota, there’s not enough money at the state level to go around to everyone. You also need local commitment from businesses and property owners who know that investing in housing will bring more prosperity… but they don’t have as much to spare right now, either.”

As election season approaches, it’s important to consider where candidates stand on affordability, stabilizing foreign relations, and of course, investing money, time, and care into our communities.

The resident we spoke to sums up: “We want to stay in Northern Minnesota where we grew up and where the lakes and forests are, but there aren’t a lot of people our age living nearby. We make our separate friends at each end of our commutes, but don’t have any friends in our own town. I’d prefer not to commute 40 minutes in the snow after dark every day, but pretty much everyone I know is in the same boat.”

By Ben Harris, Longville