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
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.
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.