The average renter in Pennsylvania needs a $5 hourly raise in order to keep housing costs, according to a national nonprofit affordable housing group.
Renters in the state earn an average of about $20.11 an hour, but they need to make $26.26 to comfortably afford the $1,365 monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment, according to a recent National Low Income Housing Coalition report.
That estimate, from the NLIHC’s annual Out of Reach report released last month, is about 11% higher compared to last year’s report.
Pennsylvania ranked 27th for highest wage needed to cover fair market rental in this year’s report, an analysis of U.S. Census and Department of Housing and Urban Development data.
Approximately 31% of almost 5.2 million Pennsylvania households are renters, according to the report.
One of the main focuses of the report aimed at underscoring the difficulties of finding housing for low-income workers is what the nonprofit calls a “housing wage,” the pay rate needed for a 40-hour work week so no more than 30% of pay goes to housing costs.
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That affordability threshold has been a federal standard since at least 1981.
“Although most indicators show that the economy is strong, the lowest-income renters continue to confront significant challenges finding and maintaining access to safe and affordable rental housing,” the report says. “Insufficient wages, rising rents, and an inadequate housing safety net all contribute to the problem.”
The highest housing wages in Pennsylvania
Although the state’s housing wage is more than $26 an hour, that rate varies by county and can range between $16.25 to over $33 an hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment depending on the part of the state.
Andrew Aurand, the senior vice president of research at the NLIHC, said the Philadelphia area, which includes the city and its suburban collar counties, is the most expensive in the state. Workers there need to make at least $28 an hour to afford a one-bedroom apartment.
Most low-wage jobs, including personal care and home health aides and food service workers, earn far less than what they need to afford housing, Aurand said.
“Not surprisingly, many low-wage workers are just one unexpected expense or financial crisis away from losing their home and housing instability, which has detrimental impacts on the educational achievements of children, physical and mental health of parents, and family well-being,” he added.
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Here’s a breakdown of the 10 highest housing wages and two-bedroom Fair Market Rental (FMR) values by county in Pennsylvania. Counties in a census metropolitan area share the same housing wage and rental rates.
- Philadelphia, Delaware, Montgomery, Bucks and Chester counties share a housing wage of $33.40 an hour to make their FMR of $1,737 per month affordable.
- Pike County has a housing wage of $31.71 an hour to make its FMR of $1,649 per month affordable.
- Monroe County has a housing wage of $28.27 an hour to make its FMR of $1,470 per month affordable.
- Northampton, Lehigh and Carbon counties share a housing wage of $27.42 an hour to make their FMR of $1,426 per month affordable.
- Lancaster County has a housing wage of $25.63 an hour to make its FMR of $1,333 per month affordable.
- Berks County has a housing wage of $25.38 an hour to make its FMR of $1,320 per month affordable.
- Centre County has a housing wage of $25.33 an hour to make its FMR of $1,317 per month affordable.
- Dauphin, Cumberland and Perry counties share a housing wage of $24.48 an hour to make their FMR of $1,273 per month affordable.
- Adams County has a housing wage of $23.58 an hour to make its FMR of $1,226 per month affordable.
- Lebanon County has a housing wage of $23.56 an hour to make its FMR of $1,225 per month affordable.
Is there any U.S. state where rent is affordable?
If you’re making minimum wage, whether its the federal rate of $7.25 or a higher county or state rate, you’ll probably need to work more than one job to afford rent anywhere in the country, according to the report.
There is no state where the NLIHC-suggested housing wage is equal to or less than any local, state or federal mandated hourly rate.
California ranked highest for housing costs this year with a housing wage of $47.38, almost twice the pay needed in Pennsylvania.
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“Even when factoring in higher state and county-level minimum wages, the average minimum-wage worker in the U.S. must work 113 hours per week (2.8 full-time jobs) to afford a two-bedroom rental home at fair market rent, or 95 hours per week (2.4 full time jobs) to afford a one-bedroom rental home at the fair market rent,” the report states.
North Dakota was the only state where the average renter wage — which is just a few cents higher than the Pennsylvania average of $20.11 an hour — could make rent affordable.
Chris Ullery is the Philadelphia Hub Data Reporter for the USA Today Network. Reach him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter at @ulleryatinell.
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