The RGJ reported today a few numbers from Washoe County’s recently published annual report. See Washoe County publishes its annual financial report
Many of the housing affordability topics discussed on this blog hinge upon the average income of local residents. The annual financial report states that for 2010 the average per capita income for Washoe County residents is $45,000. This number represents a 21.6 percent increase over the per capita income of $37,000 in 2000; but is also unchanged from 2009’s $45,000 median.
Another interesting metric from the report is that the median age for Washoe County residents is 37.5 years; an increase of two years over 2000’s median age of 35.5 years.
The state’s estimate for the county’s population in 2010 is 437,439; an increase of 84,169, or 23.8 percent, over the decade.
smarten
FWIW, I wanted to see how Washoe County stacked up with a major eastern city. Arbitrarily, I selected Pittsburgh, PA. Now remember, this is just the population for the city proper but 2009’s estimate was 311,647 [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh ]. I think we tend to lose sight of how much Reno/Sparks has grown [compared to other cities] in the last decade.
Penguins
Carving the population of the city limits of Pittsburgh out of the greater metro area is like carving the population of Verdi out of the population of Washoe County. And then comparing the population of Beowawe, Nevada to Verdi and saying “see, Beowawe is as big as Verdi”.
SmartMoney
So if income increased 21.6% since 2000, then real estate prices should increased about 21% during the ten year period as well. Just shows how out of line they got.
MikeZ
Many of the housing affordability topics discussed on this blog hinge upon the average income of local residents.
Housing affordability should be calculated proportional to household income, not per-capita income.
Traditionally, a household’s income will support a mortgage of 3 x gross. The per-capita gross income figure of $45K will support a $170K home purchase, $35K down/$135K mortgage. So single people earning median income can afford a median price home ($169.5K) in Reno/Sparks.
The median home affordability numbers will be even more favorable for households, which have higher gross incomes.