NLIHC Commentary on Out of Reach Describes Scarcity of Affordable Housing in Metropolitan Areas Nationwideort De

NLIHC has contributed commentary on its annual Out of Reach report to the Urban Institute’s MetroTrends website for the fourth year in a row. The commentary also features interactive graphics that illustrate the monthly cost of housing compared to monthly incomes of minimum wage earners and overall rental affordability in metropolitan areas across the country. The MetroTrends commentary highlights the persistent gap between housing costs and renter earnings in the top 100 metropolitan areas of the United States. According to Out of Reach, the 2013 national Housing Wage is $18.79, and according to the analysis done for MetroTrends it is even higher in the top 100 metropolitan areas, at $20.57. In several metro areas, such as San Francisco, CA and Stanford-Norwalk, CT, the Housing Wage exceeds $30. Metropolitan areas in the West and Northeast have the highest rents and Housing Wages in the country. Despite lower average rents in metropolitan areas in the South and Midwest, renters also struggle to afford decent housing in these regions as hourly wages for low income workers often fall below Housing Wages for low income workers. As a result, minimum wage and extremely low income renters in these regions are still priced out of decent rental housing. For example, in the Charleston, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), a minimum wage worker would have to work 79 hours per week just to afford a one-bedroom apartment at the Fair Market Rent. The MetroTrends commentary concludes by highlighting the difficulties that low income households face in balancing their housing costs with spending on other necessities, and the stress and instability that result when a medical emergency or other unexpected cost leaves a low income household unable to pay the rent and potentially face eviction.The commentary calls for support for the United for Homes campaign, which seeks to increase the supply of affordable housing for extremely low income renters. The United for Homes campaign proposes to fulfill this goal by funding the National Housing Trust Fund with revenue raised from modifications to the mortgage interest deduction.Access the full MetroTrends commentary at: http://urbn.is/Zw5TWj Access Out of Reach 2013 at: at: http://nlihc.org/oor/2013