Policy & Legislation
Homes Remain "Out of Reach" for Californians
April 22, 2009New research confirms that, despite dropping home-sale prices, rents in California still outpace many families' incomes.
According to Out of Reach 2009 (released last week by the National Low Income Housing Coalition), California's "Housing Wage" is now $24.83 per hour. The Housing Wage is the hourly wage a full-time worker must earn to afford rent and utilities for an average two-bedroom apartment. The typical renter in California earns $17.52 per hour. An individual earning minimum wage ($8.00 per hour) would have to work 124 hours per week to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment.
An estimated 58 percent of California renters do not earn enough to afford a two-bedroom apartment at the Fair Market Rent.
Out of Reach highlights the ongoing challenges facing California families as home foreclosures mount, rents rise, and companies cut hours and jobs. The report underscores the need for state investment in spurring the private market to expand the supply of homes affordable to all Californians.
This year, California is the second most expensive state in the country for renters and includes five of the ten most expensive metropolitan areas in the United States. Following are the hourly wages a full-time worker must earn to afford rent and utilities for an average two-bedroom apartment:
- Santa Clara County -- $25.73 per hour
- Los Angeles/Long Beach area -- $26.17 per hour
- San Diego area -- $27.27 per hour
- Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura -- $28.88 per hour
- Orange County -- $29.73 per hour
- Santa Cruz/Watsonville area – $30.58 per hour
- San Mateo, Marin and San Francisco Counties -- $31.88 per hour
The Visalia-Porterville area has the lowest housing wage in the state at $12.96 per hour -- still $4.96 per hour above California's minimum wage.
Out of Reach 2009 is available on the National Low Income Housing Coalition's website.
Contact: Sharon Sprowls, 916.447.0503 x110 or .
