Public housing in the United States is administered by federal, state and local agencies to provide
subsidized assistance for
low-income households. Now increasingly provided in a variety of settings and formats, originally
public housing in the U.S. consisted primarily of one or more concentrated blocks of low-rise and/or high-rise apartment buildings. These complexes are operated by state and local housing authorities which are authorized and funded by the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. More than 1.2 million households currently live in public housing of some type .