PHAs losing money to bloated staffing
HUD's benchmark for well-run PHAs is ~55 units managed per employee. PHAs running 25 or fewer units/employee are carrying overhead that doesn't translate into voucher service — and the difference comes straight out of their HUD admin fees + operating fund. We've flagged the ones running 2x+ above benchmark.
Modeled combined AI-bookkeeping savings across the 11 PHAs below: $305.0M/year
Dollar figures on this page are forward-looking modeling estimates derived from public HUD data and the methodology below — not realized results or a guarantee. See methodology for assumptions.
- Total units
- 268K
- Employees
- 11,400
- Units / staff
- 24
- Admin / unit
- $16029/yr
- Annual budget
- $4.3B
- Total units
- 36K
- Employees
- 1,300
- Units / staff
- 28
- Admin / unit
- $13403/yr
- Annual budget
- $480.0M
- Total units
- 59K
- Employees
- 1,080
- Units / staff
- 54
- Admin / unit
- $16239/yr
- Annual budget
- $950.0M
⚠ Severely overstaffed
4 PHAs are running <38 units per employee
That's below 70% of HUD's 55-units-per-employee operational benchmark. Means more admin payroll than required to actually serve the housing portfolio. Our model assumes AI bookkeeping can absorb ~25% of that overhead (projected, see methodology), before any other operational changes.
Full PHA analysis
Sorted by projected annual savings (modeling estimate). PHAS designation from HUD assessment.
| PHA | Location | Units total | Staff | Units/staff | Cost/unit | PHAS | Efficiency | Est. AI Savings/yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NYCHA New York City Housing Authority | New York, NY | 268K | 11,400 | 24 | $16029 | Troubled | 26 | $188.2M |
PHA Philadelphia Housing Authority | Philadelphia, PA | 36K | 1,300 | 28 | $13403 | Substandard | 30 | $21.4M |
HACLA Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | 59K | 1,080 | 54 | $16239 | Standard | 54 | $20.5M |
CHA Chicago Housing Authority | Chicago, IL | 73K | 770 | 95 | $15000 | Standard | 91 | $16.8M |
HABC Housing Authority of Baltimore City | Baltimore, MD | 27K | 920 | 29 | $14027 | Troubled | 32 | $15.4M |
HACoLA Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles | Alhambra, CA | 27K | 510 | 52 | $15339 | Standard | 52 | $9.5M |
NHA Newark Housing Authority | Newark, NJ | 17K | 510 | 33 | $12884 | Substandard | 36 | $8.6M |
SDHC San Diego Housing Commission | San Diego, CA | 19K | 365 | 51 | $29248 | Standard | 49 | $8.1M |
SHRA Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency | Sacramento, CA | 16K | 380 | 43 | $17378 | Standard | 43 | $7.0M |
OHA Oakland Housing Authority | Oakland, CA | 18K | 290 | 60 | $15714 | Standard | 59 | $5.6M |
SFHA San Francisco Housing Authority | San Francisco, CA | 11K | 215 | 52 | $15625 | Substandard | 52 | $4.0M |
California PHAs
6 of the 11 PHAs analyzed are California-based.
HUD Troubled / Substandard
PHAs with PHAS or SEMAP score below 60% — most actionable sales targets.
- • Unit + employee counts: HUD-published PHA data, NAHRO directories, individual PHA annual plans (HUD-50075-ST).
- • Efficiency benchmark: 55 units managed per employee — HUD-derived operational benchmark for well-run PHAs.
- • Cost/unit benchmark: $1,400/year combined operating fund + admin fee per managed unit.
- • AI savings (modeled): assumes 25% of total payroll is bookkeeping-mechanical work (AP, voucher payments, journal entries) and AI automates ~75% of that. Projected, not a guaranteed result.
- • Penalty avoidance (modeled): assumes 0.5% of annual budget as typical exposure from FDS late filings, single audit findings, IG referrals, SEMAP deductions. The engine computes and validates filings to flag issues in-period; it does not file to HUD. Projected, not a guaranteed result.
- • Designation: Latest publicly-available PHAS or SEMAP designation. "Troubled" = score <60%.