A National Low Income Housing Coalition report found that full-time workers need, on average, to earn over $23.67 per hour to afford fair-market, one-bedroom rental homes.
The report, released Thursday, defined affordability for most Americans as not exceeding the 30% threshold of monthly income.
And it is with that measure that the NLIHC estimated a two-bedroom rental requires workers to earn at least $28.58 an hour.
There are currently no states where minimum-wage workers put in 40 hours weekly and can afford a two-bedroom rental. To be able to do that, workers would have to put in 104 hours per week.
In order to afford a one-bedroom rental, an employee making minimum wage will need to work 86 hours per week, with nearly half of all American workers not earning enough in a 40-hour week to afford a one-bedroom rental.
The report further noted that, although rent prices appear to be stabilizing in the wake of rising interest rates and the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, wages have still failed to keep up with median rental-price growth.
Rents grew by 17.9% between 2001 and 2021, while wages increased by just 3.2% over that same period.
"Stable, affordable homes are a prerequisite for basic well-being, and no person should face the danger of losing their home," NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel stated.
"Yet too many low-income renters are facing worsening housing instability as housing costs rise and pandemic-era safety net programs expire," she added.
The NLIHC also criticized House Republicans for trying to "slash funding for key affordable housing solutions" at the same time living costs rise and called on the Biden administration to address it.
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