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Americans Paying More for HousingPOSTED December 23, 2004 More and more Americans are finding it tougher to afford a home and more of their income is going to pay for rent. As housing costs continue to increase faster than wages, millions of working families will spend the holidays struggling to pay for their homes, while many others will bring in the New Year without a home at all. Out of Reach: 2004, a report released today by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) finds that the national Housing Wage for 2004 is $15.37, or $31,970 a year, almost three times the federal minimum wage. The housing wage represents the amount a full-time worker must earn to be able to afford the rent for a modest two-bedroom home while paying no more than 30% of income fro housing. Working families, the elderly, and people with disabilities struggle to pay for their homes and are left to make impossible choices among necessities. Out of Reach calculates the Housing Wage for every state, region and county in the U.S. and reports that in no community, city, county, or state is housing affordable to low wage workers. California, Massachusetts and New York are the top three states for least affordable housing. For metro areas, the San Francisco Bay Area and Stamford, CT are the least affordable locations in the U.S. Other findings include: * Families with extremely low incomes (those at 30% or below
the area's median income) continue to face the most severe affordability
problems. There is not a single metropolitan area where an extremely
low income family can be assured of finding a modest two bedroom
rental home that is affordable. "Out of Reach shows both the depth and breadth of the housing shortage in our country. The gap between what people earn and what their housing costs is stark," said Sheila Crowley, President of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. "For the one third of the nation paying too much for their homes, the consequences of ends that do not meet are all too real."
FMR = Fair Market Rate |
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