The people who keep Westchester County’s families thriving too often cannot afford to live here.

Teachers, emergency responders, nonprofit employees and retail and service workers are among those who are increasingly being pushed out of living in Westchester’s communities due to lack of available affordable housing options — and we need to do more to address it.

Westchester boasts growing population — but we have a shrinking workforce

In April, Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins noted that the average county home price was nearly $1 million. At the same time, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that Westchester outpaced every other county in New York State in terms of population growth between 2024 and 2025 and had reached its highest population ever – an estimated 1,015,743 residents.

This might be surprising given the surge in housing construction in the last seven. And it’s true. With help from the County Executive and his policies, Westchester has been building, but just not enough.

Between 2010 and 2024, approximately 27,000 housing units were added — many of which qualify as transit-oriented development — but rental vacancy rates have still fallen to an historic low of 1.9%. Those who have been able to find apartments have seen their........

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