The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) released their 2018 report on minimum wage and apartment affordability.
The report showed it is practically impossible for someone who works full time at minimum wage to afford a two bedroom apartment.
Even with the rise in minimum wage across the country, the ability to afford the cost of living cannot compare.
The study, Out of Reach; The High Cost of Housing, stated that across the nation one would have to make around $17.90 an hour to be able to afford a simple one bedroom apartment.
In Ohio alone the average wage a person would need to make is $15.25 an hour to afford a modest two bedroom apartment. The state of Ohio’s minimum wage is currently $8.30 an hour and its estimated that one would have to work 57 hours a week to make enough for a one bedroom apartment.
It’s estimated that in the state of California one would have to earn $32.68 an hour to afford a two bedroom apartment and in Hawaii where the cost of living is higher, it’s estimated to be about $36.13.
The report also included the minimum wage needed to afford a two bedroom apartment in Puerto Rico as the lowest, $9.24 an hour.
According to NLIHC, 11.2 million households have extremely low incomes and cannot afford rent.
“Make no mistake: while the housing market may have recovered for many, we are nonetheless experiencing an affordable housing crisis, especially for very low-income families,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said in the NLIHC report.
Rental housing costs have risen since the Great Recession but luxury apartments have increased. Between 2005 and 2015, the number of rentals costing $2,000 or more a month increased by 97 percent.
In a May 2018 article by Dayton Daily News, Dayton was listed as a city with highest evictions in the Midwest and ranked 26 out of 100 cities in the US by the Eviction Lab at Princeton University.
The 2016 report by the Eviction Lab found that in Dayton around 1800 evictions took place throughout that year.
According to Dayton Daily News, apartment rent in the city of Dayton are increasing however they remain cheaper than the national average.
For an interactive map of the NLIHC report visit this link.
