Craig discusses Beltrami County housing crisis with local leaders

Angie Craig met with Bemidji Mayor Jorge Prince and community leaders to talk through Beltrami County’s housing shortage, where the AEI Housing Center says the county is short 100 homes, about 0.4% of its housing stock. The conversation put a local number on a problem Bemidji has been living with for years, and it centered on what federal help could actually do beyond another round of concern.

The discussion followed a Dec. 2, 2025 roundtable on Beltrami County’s housing study, prepared by Maxfield Research for Greater Minnesota Housing Fund and Sanford Health. That study helped frame the scale of the problem: one housing estimate puts Beltrami County at 18,210 households in 2025 and projects a need for about 4,179 general-occupancy units by 2035, with recommendations that include infill, density incentives and targeted financing tools. Those are the kinds of levers that matter in Bemidji, where land, labor and lending all shape whether units get built.

Local financing remains thin compared with the need. Beltrami County’s 1st Quarter 2025 News and Highlights says the newly created Beltrami County Housing Trust Fund allocated $49,500 to two community housing programs in its first year. That is a start, but it is small next to the size of the housing gap and leaves city and county leaders depending on state and federal dollars to move projects forward.

Prince said the housing data could help city officials establish policies that positively impact housing efforts in Bemidji. That matters because the discussion is no longer just about acknowledging a shortage. Bemidji residents were already facing a shortage of affordable housing options in 2023, and county officials have continued hearing possible solutions as rents and availability tighten.

Craig has made housing a central part of her public message. Her congressional housing page says affordable housing is a cornerstone of strong economies and communities in the Second District, and a separate housing press release says she has pushed legislation to combat housing affordability and help Minnesotans buy their first home. For Beltrami County, the practical test is whether that agenda can translate into money, financing tools and policy changes that support new construction, especially the kind of workforce and entry-level housing Bemidji lacks.