Here’s What You Need to Make Hourly to Afford a 2-Bedroom Rental in Every State

Poor economy represented by empty wallet
Photo Credit: ZEF

Every year Out of Reach, a program from the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, puts out a report demonstrating how unaffordable rents have become throughout the United States. Its 2015 report has just been released and it highlights some disturbing statistics: the federal minimum wage is $7.25, adding up to an annual income of $15,080. The 2015 Fair Market Rent is $806, meaning it would take 86 hours of work at minimum wage to afford rent. Government benefits are calculated as if renters spend 30% of their income on housing, but 10.3 million households have incomes at or below 30% of the Area Median Income. In other words, 1 out of every 4 renters can’t afford their existing rent.

Read the report here.   OOR_2015_FULL(1).PDF