Study: $16.35/Hour Needed To Afford A Place in FL

The Fair Market Rent (FMR) for a two-bedroom Florida apartment is $850. In order to afford this level of rent and utilities – without paying more than 30 percent of income on housing – a household must earn $2,834 monthly or $34,007 annually. Assuming a 40-hour work week, 52 weeks per year, this level of income translates into a housing wage of $16.35 per hour, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s (NLIHC) annual Out of Reach report released yesterday.

In Florida, a minimum wage worker earns an hourly wage of $6.40. In order to afford the FMR for a two-bedroom apartment, a minimum wage earner must work 102 hours per week, 52 weeks per year, according to the report. Or a household must include 2.6 minimum wage earners working 40 hours per week year-round in order to make the two-bedroom FMR affordable.

According to NLIHC, the cost of affordable rental housing climbed again across the nation in 2006. The national two-bedroom housing wage climbed to $16.31 nationally, up from $15.78 last year – the hourly wage a full time worker must earn in order to afford a two-bedroom home at his or her community’s Fair Market Rent (FMR).

“Every year it is becoming more difficult for low income families to find decent homes they can afford,” said NLIHC President Sheila Crowley. “As we approach the holiday season with its intense focus on consumer spending, Out of Reach shows the difficulty that millions of low-income families face to even pay for their homes.”

While the national two-bedroom housing wage stands at $16.31, in 2005, the most recent year for which data are available, the median hourly wage for all workers was $14 and the estimated average renter wage was $12.64. Minimum wage earners are unable to afford even a one-bedroom home anywhere in the country, and 88 percent of renters in cities live in areas where the FMR for a two-bedroom rental is not affordable even with two minimum wage jobs.

Congressman Frank wrote in the report’s preface, “Unfortunately, for the past few years, affordable housing for low income people has not only been ‘out of reach,’ it has been ‘out of sight,’” says Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA).

The data can also be viewed by Florida county and nationally. For specific information visit the NLIHC Web site at: www.nlihc.org/oor/oor2006/.

from: Florida Association of Realtors