Washington, D.C. – The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) has released Out of Reach: The High Cost of Housing, an annual report that documents the gulf between wages and what people need to earn to afford their rents. The report routinely shows that affordable rental homes remain out of reach for millions of low-wage workers and their families. The report’s “Housing Wage” is an estimate of the hourly wage full-time workers must earn to afford a rental home at HUD’s Fair Market Rent (FMR) without spending more than 30% of their incomes.
In 2026, the average hourly wage earned by renters is $24.84, which is $9.89 less than the national two-bedroom Housing Wage of $34.73 and $4.35 less than the one-bedroom Housing Wage of $29.19. In 49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, renters earning the average renter wage must work more than 40 hours per week to afford a modest two-bedroom rental home.
“Housing is more than just shelter; it is foundational to well-being and dignity,” said NLIHC President and CEO Renee M. Willis. “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. The report findings also reinforce that cutting federal housing investments would only deepen the housing crisis. Congress must protect and expand housing programs that ensure stability, opportunity, and a pathway out of poverty for millions of renters.”
Key findings from the 2026 report include:
- Rental housing is unaffordable for low-wage workers. Of the 25 most common occupations in the U.S., 17 pay median wages below the Housing Wage for a one-bedroom rental home and 18 pay below the Housing Wage for a two-bedroom rental home.
- Rental housing is furthest out of reach for minimum-wage workers. As of 2026, 30 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 64 localities have minimum wages above the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour.
- Not enough money is left for other basic needs. In most areas of the U.S., a family of four with a poverty-level income can afford no more than $825 per month in rent, assuming they can spend up to 30% of their income on housing.
- Not everyone experiences the housing crisis the same way. The median wage of a full-time white worker is enough to afford a one-bedroom apartment at FMR, but the same is not true for Black or Latino workers. Extremely low-income renters account for 18% of Black households, 16% of American Indian or Alaska Native households, and 13% of Latino households, compared to just 6% of white households.
- The existing affordable housing stock falls far short of demand. Affordable housing developers describe rising development costs as a major barrier to expanding supply, pointing to increasing labor, material, and financing costs that have sharply raised the cost of development in recent years.
This year’s Out of Reach report highlights the significant need for subsidies to assist the lowest-income renters. Despite this need, federal resources for affordable housing remain insufficient. Currently, only one in four eligible households receives federal housing assistance due to chronic underfunding. This underfunding is largely a result of housing assistance programs competing for limited discretionary federal funding.
To read the report and to view the Housing Wage in your state, visit http://www.nlihc.org/oor.
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