Highest Rent In The Nation
December 19, 2006
I saw this in the local newspaper today.
Steepest rents in U.S.
By Mary Vorsino
Advertiser Staff WriterTo afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment in 2006, Hawai’i renters had to earn $48,940 a year — more than anywhere else in the nation, according to a state-by-state report on housing affordability.
It’s the second year in a row Hawai’i has ranked as the most expensive state for renters, topping California, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. The report, released last week by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, also shows rents in Hawai’i and nationwide are outpacing wages and pricing out millions of Americans.
Nationally, renters had to earn $33,924 in 2006 to afford a two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent, the study says.
Hawai’i's “housing wage” — or hourly pay needed to rent a two-bedroom apartment for $1,224 a month — was $23.53 this year, according to the study. The figure is more than double the average hourly wage for a renter in Hawai’i and more than three times the state’s minimum wage of $6.75.
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