How Much Money Oakland County Renters Need For Modest Apartment

OAKLAND COUNTY, MI — The typical household in Oakland County must earn $18.08 an hour to afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment at fair market rate, according to a new report by affordable housing advocates. In the report, “Out of Reach,” released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Michigan is said to have the 28th highest “housing wage” in the country.

According to the recent study, fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the state is $876. That means a typical household would have to earn $16.85 per hour — to pay rent and not spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing.

Here’s the breakdown for Oakland County:

• Studio: $11.54 per hour
• One-bedroom: $13.98 per hour
• Two-bedroom: $18.08 per hour
• Three-bedroom: $23.81 per hour
• Four-bedroom: $25.71 per hour

The findings illustrate just how “far out of reach” even modestly priced housing is for the country’s low-wage workers and most vulnerable populations, the study said.

The national housing wage is $22.10 for a modest two-bedroom apartment and $17.90 for a one-bedroom. That number ranges from as low as $13.84 in Arkansas all the way up to a whopping $36.13 in Hawaii.

The five metro areas with the highest two-bedroom housing wages are Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut ($38.19); Honolulu, Hawaii ($39.06); Oakland-Fremont, California ($44.79); San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California ($48.50); and San Francisco, California ($60.02).

A full-time worker making the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour would need to work about 122 hours a week — 52 weeks out of the year — to afford a typical two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent in the U.S., the study found. That same worker would need to work 99 hours a week to afford a one-bedroom home.

“In no state, metropolitan area, or county can a worker earning the federal minimum wage or prevailing state minimum wage afford a two-bedroom rental home at fair market rent by working a standard 40-hour week,” the study said. “In only 22 counties out of more than 3,000 counties nationwide can a full-time minimum wage worker afford a one-bedroom rental home at fair market rent.”

In the report, Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont wrote that stable and affordable housing is vital for people to live with dignity. Without it, economic opportunity is a pipe dream.
“It is difficult for families to keep up, and near impossible to get ahead or save for retirement or higher education,” wrote Sanders. “Without a stable home, children suffer emotionally and at school. Seniors cannot possibly retire with dignity and respect.”

Sanders added that the housing market may have recovered for many, but the country nonetheless is in the midst of “an affordable housing crisis” — particularlythe lowest-income families.

“In America today, nearly 11 million families pay more than half of their limited incomes toward rent and utilities,” he wrote. “That leaves precious little for other essentials, like food, transportation and health care — much less a few extra dollars to take your kid to see a movie.”

Patch reporter Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

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