Apartments are a huge part of the Dallas-Fort Worth economy, responsible for billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs a year, and yet there are not nearly enough of them.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area needs to build 19,000 apartments every year to keep up with demand, a new Hoyt Advisory Study commissioned by the National Apartment Association and the National Multifamily Housing Council says.

The report shows apartment construction in DFW alone contributes $8.4B to the local economy on an annual basis and creates 36,000 jobs.

Combined, DFW apartments and their residents grace the local economy with about $98.5B in expenditures each year, supporting roughly 428,000 jobs.

And when it comes to apartment rehabilitation and renovation projects, DFW shows its economic potential with renovations and repairs alone pushing about $2B into the local economy and creating up to 7,000 jobs yearly, the report said.

“Construction is still moving ahead, as there’s a need for additional apartments in many states,” NMHC President Douglas Bibby said. “And, due to an abundance of aging stock, there’s a growing need for renovations and improvements on existing apartment buildings.”

While the DFW apartment stock is generally young — with 28% of the area's units built after 2000 and 43% built between 1980 and 1999 — plenty of rehab opportunities exist with roughly 29% of the area's stock built before 1980, according to the study.