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  1. Home
  2. The Basics
  3. Real Estate
  4. How Much You Need to Make In Every State to Rent a House

How Much You Need to Make In Every State to Rent a House

June 16, 2017
By: Elena Sheppard
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Young couple moving in into new apartment
Renting a home.
credit: oneinchpunch/iStock/GettyImages

Housing might seem expensive and, spoiler alert, that's because housing is expensive. A new report from the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, details just how expensive it is — between 2007 and 2015 median rent prices rose six times as fast as the median income.

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The 280-page study is filled with incredible statistics that make us feel less bad about how hard it is to find lodging. One standout stat that really blew us away: A minimum-wage worker in New York state would need to work 101 hours per week in order to afford a one-bedroom rental.

What we found most interesting though was the breakdown of how much people needed to make per-hour in order to afford a two-bedroom rental. This assessment is based on a 40-hour workweek, 52 weeks per year and mandates that the person does not pay more than 30% of their income on housing.

Considering that the federal minimum wage is $7.25, it's note worthy that not one state is affordable for one person to get a two-bedroom rental on that salary.

Here is how much must be made per hour in each state, from most expensive to least, in order to rent a two-bedroom.

  1. Hawaii: $32.20
  2. District of Columbia: $33.58
  3. California: $30.58
  4. Maryland: $28.27
  5. New York: $28.08
  6. Massachusetts: $27.39
  7. New Jersey: $27.31
  8. Connecticut: $24.72
  9. Alaska: $24.16
  10. Washington: $23.64
  11. Virginia: $23.29
  12. Colorado: $21.97
  13. Vermont: $21.90
  14. New Hampshire: $21.71
  15. Delaware: $21.62
  16. Illinois: $20.87
  17. Florida: $20.68
  18. Oregon: $19.78
  19. Rhode Island: $19.49
  20. Pennsylvania: $18.68
  21. Minnesota: $18.60
  22. Texas: $18.38
  23. Maine: $18.05
  24. Nevada: $18.01
  25. Arizona: $17.56
  26. Utah: $17.02
  27. Georgia: $16.79
  28. North Dakota: $16.36
  29. Michigan: $16.24
  30. Louisiana: $16.16
  31. Wisconsin: $16.11
  32. South Carolina: $15.83
  33. Wyoming: $15.80
  34. North Carolina: $15.79
  35. New Mexico: $15.78
  36. Missouri: $15.67
  37. Kansas: $15.59
  38. Tennessee: $15.34
  39. Nebraska: $15.22
  40. Indiana: $15.17
  41. Ohio: $15.00
  42. Montana: $14.90
  43. Mississippi: $14.84
  44. Alabama: $14.78
  45. Oklahoma: $14.78
  46. Idaho: $14.65
  47. Iowa: $14.57
  48. West Virginia: $14.49
  49. South Dakota: $14.12
  50. Kentucky: $13.95
  51. Arkansas: $13.72
  52. Puerto Rico: $9.68

If you want to read the rest of the fascinating study, you can check it out here.

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