Calls for housing and rent assistance continue to trend high in Triangle, call data shows

Data analyzed by WRAL of North Carolina's 211 hotline shows calls for housing, rent, and utility assistance continue to rise gradually over the last several years.

It comes as a recent CNBC survey polled 1,000 registered voters and found that voters between 18 and 34 years old found the cost of living to be the top political issue. 

Data from North Carolina's 211 call center, staffed by the United Way, shows the number of people calling the hotline for guidance on housing and shelter in the Triangle region of the service's call map is higher over the first six months of 2026 compared to the same window of time for years past. 

In the Triangle region alone, almost 10,000 people have called the hotline. That marks a roughly 30 percent increase since 2023. 

Sara Carlson, mission advancement manager for the United Way and an NC 211 call intaker, said she's heard firsthand some of the reasons why callers are struggling with payments. 

"I hear firsthand what folks are calling about. Some work a job that’s hourly, and they can’t work and make money and pay rent that month. Usually out of their control, or being in the hospital for an illness," Carlson said.

The trends seen in Raleigh largely mirror that for statewide trends here in North Carolina. 

While looking at total year data dating back to 2020 through NC211, the call volume represents an even more steady climb for the numbers. 

More than 20,000 people called 211 for housing and shelter assistance in 2025, a jump of 6,000 calls since 2021. More than 112,000 people called 211 across the entire state of North Carolina that year.

Carlson says it's difficult to ascribe what percentage of those calls are because of increased demand for assistance versus increased familiarity with the 211 program. 

Cost of living, she says, is undeniably an element of why North Carolinians are calling for help. 

"For others, rent pricing goes up, and they say ‘I haven’t been able to get a raise at work but my rent cost went up. And I haven’t been able to make up that difference,'" she says.