In seven of America’s most expensive large cities, the average household needs to make at least six figures in order to afford the average fair market price for a two-bedroom apartment without spending more than 30% of its income on housing, according to a SmartAsset study of America’s 25 largest cities.
San Francisco, Calif. topped SmartAsset’s list as the most expensive city for two-bedroom renters. In order to avoid being cost-burdened by the city’s $4,232 average two-bedroom apartment rent, a household would need to make $188,000 per year – about $85,000 more than the area’s average household income. New York comes in second, with a $162,000 household income needed to avoid the cost burden of a $3,789 two-bedroom rent.
The gap between what renters earn per hour and what it costs to afford a modest apartment at average market levels across the U.S. is just as wide: The hourly wage needed to make a modest two-bedroom apartment affordable is $22.10… For a modest one-bedroom, it’s $17.90. Meanwhile, the average hourly wage of U.S. renters stands at $16.88.
Read More
