Many American metropolitan areas exhibited robust job growth in the favorable economic conditions that prevailed for most of the past decade, up to the pandemic-induced recession of 2020. However, not all those metros matched job growth with housing growth. Largely because of restrictions on land use, some of the nation’s most successful and productive metropolitan areas failed to meet housing demand. The populations of those areas became better educated and earned higher incomes. Even though many jobs that don’t typically require a college education paid better in those metros, less educated workers gravitated to the growing metros where housing was more affordable. When high-wage, high-productivity metros exclude many of the workers who would want  to work there—but can’t find housing that meets their needs and that they can afford—the national economy  grows less than it could have.