Renters need to make $33/hour to afford 1 bedroom

A Clark County renter on the hunt for a studio apartment would need to earn $61,000 annually to comfortably afford the $1,628-a-month fair market rent, according to a recent study.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s Out of Reach report compares median salaries and rental prices across the nation. It found a Clark County renter would need to earn more than $33 an hour or work 83 hours a week at minimum wage to afford a one-bedroom apartment at the fair market rate of $1,750 a month.

Local leaders link climbing rents with the rise in homelessness, which the city of Vancouver has declared to be an emergency.

The report assumes renters should spend about 30 percent of their gross annual income on rent to balance all cost-of-living necessities.

“This year’s Out of Reach report shows that, despite economic gains for some, low-income renters continue to face impossible choices between paying rent and meeting basic needs,” Renee Willis, the housing coalition’s president and CEO, said in a news release.

According to the report, the greater Vancouver-Portland metro area has the fourth most expensive housing in Washington — behind Seattle, Bremerton-Silverdale and Tacoma, respectively.

The average household in Clark County has 3.10 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Households would need to earn $52 an hour to afford a three-bedroom apartment and nearly $62 an hour for a four-bedroom unit. A resident who receives about $1,000 of Supplemental Security Income could only spend $301 on rent in order to live comfortably, according to the report.

The report looks at statewide data, too. Without paying more than 30 percent of income on housing, a Washington household must earn $7,125 monthly.

“Housing costs continue to rise beyond the incomes of far too many households in Washington, especially those working for low wages,” Rachael Myers, executive director of the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, said in a news release.

Mia Ryder-Marks; 360-735-4547; mia.ryder-marks@columbian.com