Housing Needs Study of the Northern Neck of Virginia

Abstract

The Northern Neck of Virginia is comprised of four rural coastal counties between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers, Highway 302 and the Chesapeake Bay. The four counties are in the process of transitioning from an extraction-based and agricultural economy to a more service-oriented economy. As this has led to speculation, rising land values, and increasing housing costs, the nature of these shifts and their repercussions have important housing and policy implications, specifically that housing costs continue to rise faster than local wages, leaving the local workforce challenged to secure housing in the open market it can afford.