New Study Finds 68 Percent Of Nantucket Businesses Subsidize Their Employees’ Housing Costs

A study funded by Nantucket nonprofit Remain and conducted by the consulting firm EBP found that around 68 percent of island employers subsidize their employees’ housing in some way.

That number is 10 percent higher than the figure reported by the UMass Donahue Institute last May, underscoring both how common housing subsidies are and the high uncertainty associated with many of the small-scale housing surveys commissioned by different local organizations.

For its study, EBP spoke with 72 local businesses. Of those businesses, 64 percent reported losing hires because of the high cost of housing, with one business reporting that it lost more than 50 potential employees as a result of the island’s housing crisis.

The median business reported annual housing costs between $150,000 and $250,000, and some reported costs over $1 million. In total, EBP estimated that Nantucket employers spend more than $92 million on housing annually.

“Spending that otherwise could have occurred on growing, innovating, or better serving the community, instead goes toward securing and maintaining housing in an escalating market that only will continue to get more expensive,” EBP senior consultant Jane Haines said.

Employer-subsidized housing is also undesirable for employees, who cannot leave poor jobs without risking their housing and cannot raise concerns about subpar housing without risking their jobs.

All of the numbers in the survey, however, are highly uncertain. Haines emphasized that the sample of businesses surveyed was not representative of all Nantucket businesses, and the large discrepancy between the EBP study and the UMass study indicates that the figures should be taken as general trends rather than exact data points.

The study, presented for the first time at the Atheneum on Monday, concluded that businesses generally find homeownership more attractive than renting housing units when possible. It included a lengthy breakdown of how several other vacation towns around the world handle workforce housing and many possible options Nantucket could pursue to address the deficiency.

The full study is available here.