As HUD raises concerns about immigration-driven housing demand, Northampton officials acknowledge they cannot determine how much local housing is occupied by migrant workers.
NORTHAMPTON COUNTY, Va. — A federal report linking increased immigration to rising housing costs across the United States is raising questions closer to home: How much of Northampton County’s housing supply is being used by migrant workers, and what impact, if any, does that have on housing availability for local residents?
For now, the answer is largely unknown.
Northampton County Administrator Matt Spuck acknowledged that the county has no formal data identifying how much housing is occupied by migrant workers, whether legally documented or undocumented, despite the agricultural workforce’s significant role in the Eastern Shore economy.
The question comes as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has released findings suggesting that a substantial increase in the nation’s foreign-born population contributed to growing housing demand and higher housing costs during the Biden administration.
In its November 2025 report, Worst Case Housing Needs: 2025 Report to Congress, HUD examined the nation’s affordable housing challenges, including the effects of immigration on housing demand.
According to HUD, the foreign-born population increased by more than six million people between 2021 and 2024, creating additional demand for housing at a time when affordability was already a major concern.
In a December 11, 2025, statement, HUD said the foreign-born population accounted for approximately two-thirds of the growth in rental demand nationwide. The agency also highlighted findings that immigration accounted for all net rental household growth and more than half of owner-occupied household growth in states such as California and New York during the periods examined.
Those figures concern growth in housing demand, however, and should not be interpreted as demonstrating that immigration caused 100 percent of rent increases in those states.
HUD Secretary Scott Turner attributed much of the additional housing pressure to immigration policies under former President Joe Biden.
“We cannot forego the thought that because a record number of illegal aliens came to our country under Biden, prices have risen and supply has been squeezed,” Turner said during an appearance on Fox Business.
The administration argues that increased immigration placed additional pressure on an already constrained housing market, particularly for lower-income Americans seeking affordable rental properties.
However, housing researchers have also identified longstanding shortages in residential construction, rising interest rates, and other economic factors as major contributors to the nation’s affordability problems. The federal report’s figures concerning the foreign-born population also include immigrants with different legal statuses and do not exclusively represent undocumented immigrants.
What About Northampton County?
Against that national backdrop, the Cape Charles Mirror asked Northampton County officials whether they possessed information showing how much local housing was being used by the migrant community, including both legal and undocumented residents.
Spuck described the question as exceptionally difficult to answer.
“That is an incredibly complicated question,” Spuck responded.
He explained that a significant portion of the Eastern Shore’s seasonal agricultural workforce is employed through the federal H-2A visa program, which allows agricultural employers to hire foreign workers temporarily when qualified domestic workers are unavailable.
Spuck identified LFC Agriculture Services as a company through which many local agricultural operations secure H-2A workers for labor-intensive harvesting.
Tracking those workers presents challenges, particularly because seasonal agricultural employment can involve temporary residences and changing work locations.
“Unless an H-2A employee remains in one place for two consecutive months during a census cycle, their numbers and location are largely unknown,” Spuck said, describing the limitations of the approach he had been using.
Spuck also pointed to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, which conducts a comprehensive Census of Agriculture. However, he said extracting the information needed to determine Northampton County’s migrant housing situation remains difficult.
“To answer your question, no, I don’t have any formal data,” Spuck acknowledged.
He suggested contacting Helene Doughty with Cooperative Extension, who heads the agricultural committee, for additional information.
A Complicated Housing Question
The lack of local statistics leaves several important questions unanswered.
How many migrant workers reside in Northampton County during peak agricultural seasons? How many are housed in employer-provided accommodations, and how many occupy conventional rental properties that might otherwise be available to year-round residents?
Those distinctions are important.
Employers participating in the H-2A program generally must provide housing to qualifying temporary foreign agricultural workers at no cost. Such accommodations may include dedicated farmworker housing rather than homes or apartments competing directly in the conventional rental market.
Consequently, the presence of a substantial agricultural workforce does not necessarily translate into an equivalent reduction in housing available to permanent residents.
Undocumented workers, permanent immigrant residents, and workers employed through other arrangements may have different housing circumstances, further complicating any effort to measure the overall impact.
Without reliable local figures distinguishing those populations and their living arrangements, it is impossible to determine how closely the national trends identified by HUD reflect conditions in Northampton County.
Balancing Agricultural Needs and Housing Availability
The issue also highlights a longstanding economic reality on Virginia’s Eastern Shore: Agriculture depends heavily on seasonal labor.
Farmworkers help sustain the region’s agricultural production, providing essential labor for planting, harvesting, and other operations that support local farms and related businesses.
Spuck emphasized that importance even while acknowledging the county’s limited information.
“The population of farm workers is exceptionally important to the Shore,” he said.
That economic dependence makes the housing question particularly complicated. Local officials must consider the needs of an essential workforce alongside broader concerns about housing availability and affordability for permanent residents.
The national HUD report provides evidence that immigration has contributed to increased housing demand in the United States. What it does not establish is whether migrant workers are placing comparable pressure on Northampton County’s housing market.
For a rural agricultural community with a seasonal workforce, understanding that distinction may be essential to making informed decisions about future housing needs.
Until more detailed local information becomes available, the county is left with a fundamental question it cannot yet answer: How much of Northampton County’s housing demand comes from its migrant workforce, and how much of that demand affects the availability of housing for everyone else.
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