Study Links Immigration Crisis to Rising Rent Costs

Could the housing crisis be the logical fruits of the immigration crisis? Increasingly, the data says “yes.”

Published July 16, 2025

Virginia voters are facing skyrocketing housing costs and new data suggests mass immigration may be the biggest reason.

What happens when the population skyrockets, but housing supply can’t keep pace? Virginia is finding out. The state now ranks in the top 10 most expensive places to live, the only southern state to cross that threshold. The hardest hit areas are the state’s urban centers in the north where lower income families are increasingly being forced out.

But the crisis is impacting other parts of the state as well. Even in towns like Roanoke more than half of renters are classified as “cost burdened,” meaning over half their income comes from rent. (RELATED: Spanberger: Police Immigration Enforcement “A Distraction of Resources”)

The giant leap in housing costs mirrors stunning growth of migrant population in the Old Dominion. According to the Migration Policy Institute, Virginia’s foreign born population has increased by over 104 percent since the year 2000, while the American-born population only increased by 16 percent. Research from the Urban Institute showed that a 1% increase in immigrant population in an area increased rent 0.8% and home values 4.8%.

As a whole, nearly 75% of Virginia’s entire population growth has come from overseas immigration.

Halting federal benefits to illegal aliens is a great step to disincentivize illegal immigration and incentivize self-deportation. The next step needs to be sharing information across federal & state agencies to make sure immigration law is enforced across the board.@lora_ries pic.twitter.com/N4SITxMK82
— Heritage Foundation (@Heritage) February 21, 2025

Virginia is not alone. Nationally, the Low Income Housing Coalition estimates there is a shortage of almost 7 million affordable homes. Pew Research has estimated nationwide the illegal immigrant population to be near 11 million, accounting for more than the entire national housing need.

Virginia currently has an estimated population of 275,000 illegal immigrants and another 501,000 non-citizen immigrants.

While federal agents have been particularly active in Virginia, new immigration enforcement actions amount to barely more than 1% of the undocumented population.

Lawmakers are considering policy changes in building codes that will allow additional urban development but even in rural markets Virginia’s rental vacancy rate hovers below 2% significantly lower than the typical US vacancy rate of 5-8%. (RELATED: Tough Rematch: Del. Obenshain Faces Franklin in Rematch for 41st District)

Republican politicians such as Gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears see immigration enforcement as paramount to solving issues like housing and crime while Virginia Democrats, including her opponent Abigail Spanberger say immigration enforcement is a distraction and oppose criminal alien arrests.