Friday Facts and Stats: Show Me the Money!!!

Okay so last week we covered some of the most basic definitions of affordable housing (scroll down if you missed them) and this week I figured I would break down some figures.  First you should keep in mind that in no state can a minimum wage worker afford a two bedroom house/apartment at Fair Market Rent (FMR) by working 40 hours a week without paying more than 30% of their income.

The average hourly rate in the United States is $14.32 and in order to live in affordable housing a person, on average, would need to earn $18.79.  

I hope the below chart is self explanatory and not too small to read.  I decided to highlight five different states: Maryland because I live there, Oregon and Washington because we will be biking through them, Hawaii because it is the most expensive state and North Dakota because it is the least expensive.  

Want to see how your state stacks up?  

Check out the rest of the National Low Income Housing Coalition Out of Reach report.