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Out of Reach 2009
Keith E. Wardrip, Senior Research Analyst
Danilo Pelletiere, Research Director
Sheila Crowley, President
Despite the emphasis on homeownership and the marginalization of renters,
renter households still make up fully one-third of the households in the
United States — more than 36 million households. Out of Reach is a
side-by-side comparison of wages and rents in every county, Metropolitan
Area (MSAs/HMFAs), combined nonmetropolitan area and state in the United
States. For each jurisdiction, the report calculates the amount of money
a household must earn in order to afford a rental unit at a range of sizes
(0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 bedrooms) at the area’s Fair Market Rent (FMR), based
on the generally accepted affordability standard of paying no more than
30% of income for housing costs. From these calculations the hourly wage
a worker must earn to afford the FMR for a two-bedroom home is derived.
This figure is the Housing Wage.
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Established in 1974, the National Low Income Housing Coalition is dedicated solely to achieving socially just public policy that assures people with the lowest incomes in the United States have affordable and decent homes. NLIHC is committed to educating, organizing, and advocating to ensure safe, decent, affordable housing within healthy neighborhoods for everyone.
NLIHC provides up-to-date information, formulates policy and educates the public on housing needs and strategies for solutions.
Additional copies of Out of Reach are available from NLIHC.
Permission to reprint portions of this report or the data therein is granted, provided appropriate credit is given to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
The data for nonmetro areas included in Out of Reach is being
published in collaboration with:
Housing Assistance Council
Moises Loza, Executive Director
1025 Vermont Ave., NW, Suite 606
Washington, D.C. 20005
Tel.: 202-842-8600
Fax: 202-347-3441
Web: www.ruralhome.org
Support for this research was provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.
