Baltimore County is short thousands of homes, according to an assessment commissioned by County Executive Kathy Klausmeier’s administration, leading to financial strain and household overcrowding.

Conducted by consulting firm Guidehouse as well as Housing Initiative at Penn researchers, the report found a major shortfall in the existing number of homes available to the county’s lowest-income residents. The nearly 19,000-unit deficit means more competition and higher housing costs for owners and renters at all income levels.

Meanwhile, more than half of all renters in Baltimore County are spending too much of their incomes on rent, the report showed, a threshold the federal government defines as more than 30%. Nearly a third of them are spending at least half their income on rent, the report found. And almost a quarter of homeowners are exceeding government guidelines on mortgage and utility bills.

Taken together, the county has become an increasingly difficult place to live in, said Terry Hickey, the director of the county’s Department of Housing and Community Development. That means more people living beyond their means, unable to put money in savings, and at risk of homelessness.

The findings suggest that the county should be more strategic and intentional about the projects it subsidizes and supports, Hickey said.

“There’s something in here that should concern everyone,” Hickey said in a Monday morning interview. He presented the Housing Needs Assessment report to the County Council on Monday evening at one of the last public hearings of the calendar year.

Adding housing in Baltimore County has become a tougher sell over the last few years. County Council members have sparred over the urgency, and the existence, of the housing affordability problem. Community opposition has stalled, stopped or limited homebuilding in certain areas, including in Towson and Lutherville-Timonium.

Although voters across Maryland have told pollsters they want more government intervention to bring costs down, elected officials in Baltimore County say the opinions they hear from constituents are far more nuanced.

An April poll from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, identified housing as a “major issue” among residents, tied with local taxes and fees. It ranked behind only crime and public safety and high household energy bills.

Baltimore County has about one year left to meet the terms of a consent agreement it reached with the federal government in 2016 to build more affordable housing. The deal stemmed from a lawsuit arguing that the county had intentionally segregated its population by race. The agreement mandated that the county build 1,000 new units of reduced-price housing in a wider range of neighborhoods by 2027.

The county’s Housing Needs Assessment suggests that the need is far greater than just 1,000. To meet its projected growth through 2037, the county needs more than 12,000 homes, the findings show. It also noted that the county’s population is changing, with growing numbers of older adults, waning numbers of younger adults and shrinking household sizes as a result of people marrying later and having smaller families.

The county’s demographics are also fast-changing, the assessment found. It projected that Black households and Indigenous American households would be most challenged by the housing economy, given declines among both groups’ median income levels from 2013 to 2023. Though the county has experienced increased “international immigration,” migration out of the county is outpacing that growth.

The results, Hickey said, imply that more types of housing are needed to suit demand, such as townhomes, duplexes and multifamily homes. That’s contrary to how the county has prioritized housing over the 10-year period the assessment analyzed: Most housing permits issued were for single-family homes. Semi-detached homes such as duplexes made up about 2% of the building permits over that period.

During Monday night’s hearing, Councilman Pat Young — one of several candidates running in the Democratic primary for county executive — asked Hickey how he thought the county should respond to the findings.

“We’ve been throwing darts and getting by,” Hickey said. But now, he said, it’s time for the next council and county executive to reach consensus and respond.