The rental housing industry in the US is large, with nearly 89 million Americans renting their homes. There are over 17 million apartment units housing over 16 million households, with a total value of $2.2 trillion. The apartment rental industry generates $120 billion annually and employs over 550,000 people. Construction of new apartment units has added an average of 210,000 homes per year over the last 5 years, providing jobs and over $32 billion to the economy. Demographic and housing preference trends indicate half of new homes built by 2020 will need to be rental units.