Report Predicts Housing Shortfall of 10K in Williamson County

In a statement that should shock no one, Williamson County has seen substantial growth in the past decade or so. 

But for the first time since 2014, there are numbers to back it up. A report from Bowen National Research funded through the Williamson County Association of Realtors found that between 2010 and 2025 the number of households in Franklin increased by 11,899 or 46.6 percent, outpacing the 17.2 percent growth in the state of Tennessee during the time period. Franklin was actually behind the rest of Williamson County, however, which saw a 55.2 percent increase in households. 

The report also predicted that from 2025 to 2030, the projected housing gap will top 10,000 units. The county needs 3,798 more units for rent and 6,238 homes for sale to accommodate future growth.  

However, 86 percent of the people working in Franklin do not, in fact, live there. More than 110,000 people commute to work in Williamson County each day, with 16 percent of workers traveling more than 50 miles each way to work in the area, according to the report.  

Quite simply, housing is expensive in Williamson County. As part of a panel during Williamson Inc.’s Keys to Housing luncheon on Thursday, Matt Wiltshire joked that if the county simply had more crime or lower-performing schools, it might be less desirable. 

“A lot of people want to be here,” said Wiltshire, senior vice president of affordable housing at Pathway Lending. “If they didn't want to be here, the cost of housing would not be so high. That's the demand side. 

“The supply side is you have also chosen to limit the growth in supply, and part of that's related to the demand, right? Folks want to be here because they don't want to be in a big, congested space, and they want to be able to have it, and they're willing to pay for it.” 

The former Nashville mayoral candidate garnered bipartisan support at the state level for a bill that designates affordable housing as a “public purpose” so that a local government can use its Industrial Development Board to help private developers finance housing projects.

Market rate median rent for a one-bedroom unit in Franklin is $1,705, and $1,599 in the surrounding county. For an income-restricted unit, the rent is around $985 in Franklin and the surrounding area. The waitlist for such a unit is more than 150 people long, the report notes.   

In Williamson County, there are currently only three homes on the market that are priced for less than $300,000. The median listing price in Franklin is $875,000, but that number is still dwarfed by the county-wide median price of $1.3 million. A household needs at least $262,000 per year in income to be able to afford a median home in Franklin, explained Patrick Bowen, president of Bowen National Research. 

“You have to have a quarter-million dollars to be able to afford a home,” Bowen said. “You don't have a lot of renters — and surely don't have a lot of current homeowners — that make that kind of income. That's going to be a challenge for folks.” 

While Williamson County has attracted large company headquarters moves, including In-N-Out and Mitsubishi in recent years, high home pricing could prevent medium and smaller companies from moving there because employees won’t be able to afford to live in the area, Bowen said.  

The study defines cost burden as paying more than 30 percent of one’s income toward rent, and severe cost burden as spending 50 percent or more of one's income on housing. In Franklin, there are 2,500 renters and 2,000 homeowners who spend more than half of their income on housing. 

The answer to this high demand that drives up prices: more supply. 

The growth in Williamson County is still projected to remain high-income. While the report estimates the county needs more than 4,000 homes for purchase for wealthier buyers at prices of $459,000 to $574,000 and beyond, it also needs 170 homes priced at less than $191,333, and 387 priced at between $191,333 and $306,133 to purchase. 

The report suggests adding affordable housing with access to transit services in addition to continuing to develop high-end housing to satisfy the continually growing high-income population. It suggests changes to zoning to incentivize higher-density housing in all income levels. In addition, it suggests reorganizing the Franklin Housing Commission, hiring a housing specialist and creating a housing resource center to centralize housing resources in the county.  

“We want to attract, retain and develop careers in Williamson County, so your kids and grandkids can move back and have a life here, not to go to Charlotte or Atlanta or Chicago; they can have that career right here in Williamson County, but we know it's incredibly hard to do with the skyrocketing home prices in Williamson County,” said Matt Largen president and CEO of Williamson, Inc. 

You can read the full housing report below: 

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