Renting A Home In Bloomfield: How Much Do You Need To Earn?

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Does it seem like you can’t afford an apartment in Bloomfield, even though you have a full-time job? You’re not alone – it costs an arm and a leg to pay the rent these days in towns across New Jersey, a study says.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition recently released its annual "Out Of Reach" report for 2020. The study ranks ZIP codes by the hourly wage a full-time employee needs to rent a home without spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing.

Read the full report and see its methodology here. Get data for individual zip codes here.

In the “07003” zip code of Bloomfield, you need to earn $26.15 per hour to afford a one-bedroom home at a fair market rent of $1,360. Want to rent a two-bedroom home? You need to make $31.92 to afford an apartment at a fair market rent of $1,660, the report says.

It’s not just Bloomfield, either. Renting a home is also seriously expensive in other parts of Essex County and New Jersey, according to the study:

• In Essex County, people need to make $28.52 per hour to afford a two-bedroom home at a fair market rate of $1,483 per month
• Statewide, people need to earn $29.69 to afford a two-bedroom home at a fair market rate of $1,544 per month

The burden gets lighter when two or more people in a household split the rent. But with the state’s mean hourly wage hovering just over $19, renters in New Jersey still face an uphill battle no matter how you slice it, according to the study.

• See related article: Fight Wealth Gap With Affordable Housing, NJ Congress Candidate Says

“As this year’s ‘Out of Reach’ shows, the persistent gap between renters’ incomes and the cost of housing continues,” the National Low Income Housing Coalition wrote.

The coronavirus crisis has only made a bad situation worse, the nonprofit said.

“Many of our essential workers – grocery store employees, home health aides, custodians at hospitals – have risked their lives during the pandemic, but don’t get paid enough to afford housing,” the coalition stated. “Before the pandemic struck, a quarter of all renters – and 71 percent of extremely low-income renters – were paying over half their incomes for housing, too often leaving them one emergency away from eviction.”

“Now we’re seeing millions of people all have those emergencies at once,” the coalition warned.

• See related article: Evictions Continue In NJ’s Largest City Despite COVID Freeze
• See related article: 4 NJ Lawmakers Have Plan To Stop COVID Foreclosures, Evictions

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