Recent data shows MN is building multifamily over single-family housing

The topic of housing in Minnesota has been hotly debated over the past few legislative sessions in our state, and will continue into 2026. On all sides of the debate, there is at least one point of agreement: there is not enough housing in Minnesota. A multitude of housing policy groups have offered solutions that they believe will remove barriers to producing more housing, including lot sizing, removing aesthetic mandates, and removing local zoning authority.

An argument often made with respect to zoning and its role as a “barrier” to more housing being built is that cities too often favor single-family homes and lower density. Advocates of zoning liberalization claim that local zoning authority is too restrictive in the type and quantity of residential units it allows. As a result, they believe we are not able to produce enough housing to meet demand.

Recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau reveals a different story. The type of housing showing the greatest increase is structures with 5 or more apartment units, increasing by 12.5% between 2018 and 2024. This is followed by single-family attached units (e.g., townhouse, rowhouse) with an increase of 6.6%. This data illustrates that cities are actively densifying their residential districts, building more apartment units and attached single-family homes in favor of single-family detached homes. If local zoning was truly obstructing denser residential units from being built, this trend should be moving in the opposite direction.