The Research Bureau

Building on the Worcester Regional Research Bureau’s prior brief on the Housing Production Plan, Raising Housing: Understanding the Affordable Housing Crisis in Worcester moves beyond description to deeper analysis. While the earlier brief was designed to support public understanding of the HPP, this report examines the plan within a broader analytical framework, highlighting its most consequential findings and assessing their implications.

This report situates Worcester’s housing challenges and production targets within the national and statewide context of a growing housing affordability crisis. Drawing on a wide range of research—including national affordability gap analysis, statewide housing plans, and independent analyses of Gateway Cities—it considers how Worcester’s needs fit within a broader context of long-term underproduction, rising costs, and demographic shifts.

Read Raising Housing: https://www.wrrb.org/reports/2026/05/raising-housing-understanding-the-affordable-housing-crisis-in-worcester/

Raising Housing: Understanding the Affordable Housing Crisis in Worcester - Worcester Regional Research Bureau Raising Housing: Understanding the Affordable Housing Crisis in Worcester moves beyond description to deeper analysis of the Housing Production Plan within a broader analytical framework, highlighting its most consequential findings and assessing their implications.

The City of Worcester and the Worcester Regional Research Bureau (WRRB) will present a State of the City Address on Wednesday, June 17 at Worcester City Hall.

Learn more: https://www.worcesterma.gov/announcements/city-manager-batista-deliver-state-city-address-june-17

Worcester Regional Research Bureau announces the recipients of the 2026 Thomas S. Green Public Service Awards!

Since 1988, The Research Bureau has celebrated the unsung heroes of public service through the Thomas S. Green Public Service Awards. The Thomas S. Green Public Service Awards publicly recognize the extraordinary efforts of individuals across the region who have dedicated their careers and personal lives to our communities.

This year, The Research Bureau honors five employees who have made outstanding contributions to public service and embody the ideals of the Thomas S. Green Public Service Awards

Join us on June 11, 5pm, at the DCU Center to celebrate these extraordinary individuals.

For more information on this year's recipients: https://www.wrrb.org/thomas-s-green-awards/2026/02/thomas-s-green-public-service-awards-2026/

The latest Insights Insider of the year explores protected land in Worcester County. In partnership with Greater Worcester Community Foundation and using data from Worcester County Insights and MassGIS, we analyzed publicly accessible land, open space, and how the amount of protected land has changed over time.

Read Insights Insider: Protected Land in Worcester County: https://www.wrrb.org/reports/2026/04/insights-insider-protected-land-in-worcester-county/

Insights Insider: Protected Land in Worcester County - Worcester Regional Research Bureau Our first Insights Insider of the year explores the use of SNAP benefits in Worcester County. In partnership with Greater Worcester Community Foundation and using data from Worcester County Insights, we analyzed SNAP usage, demographics, and the impacts new eligibility rules and funding cuts could h...

Worcester faces an intensifying housing crisis shaped by rising rents, stagnant incomes, an aging housing stock, and sustained population growth. Worcester’s Housing Production Plan (HPP) provides a comprehensive roadmap for addressing these challenges, and was approved by the Commonwealth on Feb. 19, 2026 so expires on Feb. 18, 2031.

This brief is an overview of the HPP and the core housing challenges, broad goals, and specific strategies the City proposes to address them. The Bureau will publish a forthcoming report that examines the HPP’s projections, strategies, and implementation challenges in the context of statewide housing goals and external benchmarks.

Read Bureau Brief: Housing Production Plan Explainer: https://www.wrrb.org/reports/2026/04/housing-production-plan-explainer/.

Have you read WRRB's report The Promises of the Worcester/Framingham Line?

If not, here are some of the Key Recommendations:
1. Every community along the line must work together for improved and more frequent service now, before any Allston construction begins.

2. The Grand Junction bridge must not become inaccessible - as this bridge is the shortest link to key maintenance facilities used by all MBTA trains.

3. The third track project should not be forgotten as potentially necessary for the Worcester/Framingham Line to host full Compass Rail Service in the future.

4. Communities themselves must prioritize state infrastructure projects on the line, including improvements to at-grade crossings.

For details, read the full report: https://www.wrrb.org/reports/2026/03/the-promises-of-the-worcester-framingham-line/.

Thomas S. Green Public Service Awards – Nominations Open! - Worcester Regional Research Bureau Thomas Green Public Service Award nominations are open! These Awards recognize the unsung heroes of public service in Worcester County! Deadline to submit is March 27.

WRRB - NEW RELEASE - The Promises of the Worcester/Framingham Line follows The Research Bureau’s previous work from June 2025, Express for Whom? Ridership, Recovery, and the Importance of the Worcester/Framingham Line. Underscoring the possibilities of this regional rail line that runs between Worcester and Boston dozens of times a day, this report looks at the need and the vision of what that service could look like, explaining ongoing and future work that could unlock its promises.

Read The Promises of the Worcester/Framingham Line: https://www.wrrb.org/reports/2026/03/the-promises-of-the-worcester-framingham-line/

The Promises of the Worcester/Framingham Line - Worcester Regional Research Bureau The Promises of the Worcester/Framingham Line follows The Research Bureau’s previous work from June 2025, Express for Whom? Ridership, Recovery, and the Importance of the Worcester/Framingham Line. Underscoring the possibilities of this regional rail line that runs between Worcester and Boston doz...

The Thomas S. Green Public Service Awards Committee is now accepting nominations.

This Award is open to all employees from city/town governments, public school districts, and regional agencies who have made outstanding and exemplary contributions to public service in Worcester County, except top executive positions and department or division heads.

We invite you to submit nominations by Friday, March 27, 2026.

Nomination forms can be downloaded and submitted electronically through email at [email protected] or submitted via the online form: https://www.wrrb.org/thomas-s-green-awards/2026/02/thomas-s-green-public-service-awards-nominations-open/

Thomas S. Green Public Service Awards – Nominations Open! - Worcester Regional Research Bureau Thomas Green Public Service Award nominations are open! These Awards recognize the unsung heroes of public service in Worcester County! Deadline to submit is March 27.

The Worcester Regional Research Bureau has long analyzed data on elections and voting in Worcester. This dashboard continues this trend by analyzing November 2025’s municipal election results.

The series of maps are organized into “overall” and “district” and “at-large” elections. In general, there are maps for each of the candidates that won an election, but clicking on individual precincts will give information about vote margins, comparisons to 2023, and all other candidates in the election. The data tab also allows readers to download the table underlying this data.

Interact the Data: https://www.wrrb.org/reports/2026/02/municipal-election-2025-results/