Renting proves costly

WASHINGTON – In only four of the nation’s 3,066 counties can someone working full time and earning federal minimum wage afford to pay rent and utility costs for a one-bedroom apartment, an advocacy group on low-income housing reported Monday.

A two-bedroom rental is even more of a burden – the typical worker must earn at least $15.37 an hour to pay rent and utility costs, the National Low Income Housing Coalition says in its annual “Out of Reach” report. That’s nearly three times the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour.

In Washington state, the report says, the hourly wage needed to pay rent and utility costs for a two-bedroom apartment is $14.32 an hour.

The coalition’s “housing wage” assumes a family spends no more than 30 percent of its gross income on rent and utilities because anything more generally is considered unaffordable by the government.

Data from the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development were analyzed to derive housing wage figures. The report factored in areas where state minimum wages are, or soon may be, higher than the federal standard.

A one-bedroom apartment was considered affordable for minimum-wage workers in Crawford, Lawrence and Wayne counties in Illinois, where the housing wage was under $6.29 an hour. The state minimum wage for most employees is $5.50 an hour but will rise to $6.50 an hour on Jan. 1.

Washington County, Fla., is the fourth county listed as affordable for minimum-wage earners renting a one-bedroom apartment. Its housing wage was $6.06 an hour.