HOUSING
As the San Angelo housing market sees some major expansion ahead of the looming data center demand, regular folks are feeling the pinch of high fuel and grocery prices triggered by economic policies in Washington, D.C., and the programs that once existed to help make ends meet are rapidly being defunded.
According to the Urban Institute’s most recent Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey, renters everywhere are struggling.
And to add to the stress, many employers, including many major chains in San Angelo, traditionally underpay their employees, according to human resources experts.
Reports in this article can be found here.
Share of Renters Who Struggle To Pay Increased
The share of working-age adults, aged 18-64, who are having trouble paying rent increased in 2025, with 20 percent or renters reporting they did could not pay the full amount of rent, or were late with a payment, at some point in the year noting that figure represents a significant increase from 2024 (16.5 percent), and the highest figure observed since the WBNS began tracking this metric.
The survey found the increase in problems paying rent was concentrated among middle-income renters, up from 14.3 percent reporting difficulties in 2024, to 21.6 percent in 2025.
From the report: We observed a sharp increase in problems paying rent among middle-income renters between 2024 and 2025: from 14.3 percent to 21.6 percent. We define middle-income renters as those with incomes between 200 and 400 percent of (federal poverty level)—$31,300 to $62,600 for a single adult and $53,300 to $106,600 for a family of three. About 7 percent of renters with incomes at or above 400 percent of FPL reported difficulty paying rent in 2025. Though this was the highest share observed for this group for the time period examined (2019–25), it was not statistically different from most previous years.
Lower-income households remained the most likely to report challenges paying rent last year, at 27.8 percent.
The survey also says working-age renters are experiencing widespread difficulty with utility bills, as 20.7 percent reporting difficulty paying bills for home heating and electricity.
According to the survey, that figure is close to what was reported in 2023 and 2024, but higher than each year from 2019-2022.
As the largest population on fixed incomes, many older Americans reported problems paying rent and utility costs, with 8.9 percent of renters 65-and-older affected. According to the Urban Institute, 2025 is the first year this figure has been included in the survey.
According to the survey, this difficulty did not extend to homeowners, as the overall number of working-age adults, both renters and homeowners, who reported difficulty paying housing costs in 2025 was 11.7 percent, up from 10.2 percent the year before, and 9.7 percent in 2022 and 2023.
The report suggests the stable rate of housing affordability problems in 2020–21 is attributable to federal emergency rental assistance, eviction protections, and other pandemic-related financial assistance that shielded many households through a period of high unemployment.
The authors of the report state: We did not find a change in the share of homeowners who reported problems paying their mortgage in the past 12 months; the share held steady at 6 to 7 percent each year between 2019 and 2025. This suggests that the increase in payment challenges was concentrated among renters.
According to the Urban Institute, the 2025 Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey is the first to include a sample of adults ages 65 and older.
Measuring housing and utility hardship between older adults and working-age renters, the survey found working-age adults were more than twice as likely as those 65-and-older to have problems paying rent (20 percent versus 8.9 percent), and heating and electricity bills (20.7 percent versus 10.2 percent).
The survey’s authors call the levels of housing insecurity among older adults, despite the stronger safety net available to this population including Social Security and Medicare, “concerning.”
Additional analysis of data for older adults shows wide disparities in material hardship by income, disability status, and health status, which may increase in the coming years because of federal and state budget cuts to health care, food assistance, and other safety net programs.
A Look at Some Local Numbers
According to information presented during the most recent San Angelo Planning Commission meeting, in order to facilitate continued job growth and prevent greater housing price increases, the city needs more for-sale and rental small-lot entry-level homes, along with more apartments, town homes, patio homes, garden homes and more duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes, too.
The report states entry level, first-time buyer for-sale homes in the $175,000-$225,000 price range and rental units from $875-$1,300 are in the greatest demand and, and the low supply is a problem.
Consulting firm CDS estimates housing demand in San Angelo over the next three to five years to range from 2,500 to 5,000 new units.
According to its report, for new housing units to be as affordable and attainable as possible to San Angelo and Tom Green County workers, more rental units and smaller lot, entry level for-sale homes in the form of missing-middle housing types should be allowed and facilitated. That is being done, and one can see many such micro developments springing up around San Angelo.
Other Local Data
Companies That Don’t Pay Enough
According to HR experts, Walmart consistently ranks as the leading traditional corporate employer with the highest number of workers enrolled in SNAP and Medicaid across multiple states.
A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report covering 11 states found that Walmart employed 15,515 workers on SNAP. An earlier GAO report focusing on nine states reported 14,500 Walmart workers receiving food stamps.
According to former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, while Walmart’s front-line employees have to rely on food stamps, “those at the top of the company, including investors, are doing quite well.”
In a Facebook post last week, Reich pointed out that Walmart spent $43.4 billion on stock buybacks from 2019 to 2025, enough to give each of its 2.1 million workers annual bonuses of $2,953.
“Last year, retiring CEO Doug McMillon pocketed $29.2 million — his largest payday ever and 958 (times) Walmart’s median worker pay of $30,520. Textbook corporate greed.”
Amazon also ranks near the top of traditional employers with workers enrolled in federal aid programs, a number that has nearly tripled over a five-year period, according to reports.
For decades, McDonald’s has placed among the top restaurant with employees receiving SNAP benefits, and in recent years, app-based gig companies—including Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Grubhub have combined to displace several traditional retailers from top spots, as this cohort now constitutes the largest group of SNAP recipients nationwide.
Other employers frequently on this list:
- Dollar General
- Dollar Tree
- Kroger
- Target
- Burger King
- Taco Bell
To deal with this situation, Congress has enacted significant funding cuts and structural impediments to major federal safety-net and low-income assistance programs, which have enabled low-paying employers for decades.
