CARMEL – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2025 annual subsidized housing report shows that 981 Putnam residents lived in subsidized housing.
The average Putnam household in subsidized housing earned $23,347 in annual income last year while across all subsidized housing, 89 percent of households earned less than $40,000.
Subsidized housing residents rely on several income sources. Welfare was the primary source of income for one percent of households; HUD and the Census Bureau define welfare as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, general assistance, or emergency assistance payments. Wages, salaries, and business income were the main source for 16 percent of households. For 80 percent, most income came from other sources, including Social Security, insurance benefits, pensions, interest or dividends, workers’ compensation, severance, unemployment, disability payments, or similar income.
Households that qualified for subsidies last year in Putnam had a variety of family structures. HUD data focused on homes with children, female-headed households, and households that included people with disabilities.
In 2025, 16 percent of households included at least one child under 18, and 87 percent of those households were headed by single parents.
Women headed 66 percent while 14 percent were headed by women with children.
The report also revealed that 41 percent of all people living in subsidized housing had a disability.
Subsidized housing options vary by location, ranging from high-rise or garden-style apartments to single-family dwellings, duplexes, and more. On average, residents in 2025 lived in their units for 10 years and 11 months.
Federally subsidized rental housing began with 1937’s US Housing Act, which created the United States Housing Authority and provided financial aid to state and local governments for housing low-income people. Since then, the government has provided housing aid to low-income renters through programs overseen by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
People who live in subsidized housing share one thing: Incomes low enough to qualify for housing assistance. In 2025, HUD classified 98 percent of households in subsidized housing as exceptionally low income and 87 percent as extremely low income.
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