“Out of Reach” Report Reveals the Depth of the Rental Affordability Crisis

checkbook with pen and calculator on white desk

The 2018 Out of Reach report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition finds that in no state, city, or county can a working earning minimum wage afford a two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent by working only 40 hours a week.

In North Carolina, the average renter would need to work 90 hours per week at a minimum wage job in order to afford a two-bedroom apartment or 75 hours per week to afford a one-bedroom. As the report states, “the struggle to afford modest rental homes is not limited to minimum-wage workers.” Even North Carolinians earning the mean renter wage (estimated at $14.66 per hour, $7 per hour above minimum wage) would need to work 45 hours per week to afford a two-bedroom at fair market rent.