Are area rents affordable?

The National Low Income Housing Coalition has released its annual Out of Reach report on rents across the U.S.

What is the Out of Reach report? From the NLIHC.org release:

The Housing Wage in Out of Reach captures the gap between wages and rents across the country, and is the estimate of the full-time hourly wage that a household must earn to afford a decent apartment at the HUD estimated Fair Market Rent (FMR), while spending no more than 30% of income on housing costs.

So where does Reno-Sparks stack up in the 2013 244-page report? If you scroll down to page 139 you’ll find the data for Reno-Sparks. According to the report the fair market rent for a two-bedroom unit in Reno-Sparks is $952/month. The report states that the hourly wage necessary to afford such two-bedroom unit is $18.33 [Note: this number is computed by using the “no more than 30% of income on housing rule”]. Unfortunately, for many area renters 2013’s estimated mean renter hourly wage is $13.15 — which would equate to an affordable rent of $684/month. Looking at those renters the report defined as extremely low income renters, their affordable monthly rent drops to $489.

Related story from the Reno Gazette Journal: House advocacy group paints bleak picture of Reno housing rental cost

2 comments

  1. Godfrey

    $952 month for a 2 bedroom, sounds kind of steep. $750 will get you something decent in the Southeast, go a little bit ghetto and you could go even lower. If you cannot afford $950 for a 2/2 apartment, move somewhere affordable-but don’t whine.

  2. MikeZ

    It’s all relative, of course, but I think rents are reasonable. With regard to increases, my rent went up 3% (after 18 mos.) upon renewal late last year, but that 3% was the cost of moving off a lease to month-to-month.

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