4/1/2014 9:25:00 AM
Housing costs require $17.52-per-hour wage
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By MAURO WHITEMAN
Cronkite News Service
WASHINGTON - Arizonans have to earn $17.52 an hour, more than
twice the minimum wage, to afford a typical two-bedroom home
without spending more than 30 percent of their income on rent, a
new report says.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition's 2014 Out of Reach
report, released Monday, put Arizona in the top 20
most-expensive states for rental housing.
Topping the list were Hawaii, the District of Columbia,
California and Maryland, where residents would have to earn
nearly $25 per hour or more to be able to rent a two-bedroom
apartment on 30 percent of their income.
While Hawaiians would have to earn $31.54 an hour, by the
coalition's calculation, Puerto Rico residents have to earn the
least at $10.19 an hour - still higher than the federal minimum
wage of $7.25 an hour.
Valerie Iverson, executive director of the Arizona Housing
Alliance, said the new report "really shines the light on the
struggles of many hardworking families in Arizona."
"Everyone always thinks Arizona doesn't have an affordable
housing problem," Iverson said.
While people may see many apartment complexes, she said they
don't realize that those apartments aren't affordable for "those
at the bottom" - extremely low-income earners who make just 30
percent of an area's median income.
Coconino County had the state's highest "housing wage" - the
wage necessary to rent a two-bedroom home for 30 percent of
income - at $19.63 an hour. Greenlee and Apache counties had
Arizona's lowest at $12.25.
Arizona's minimum hourly wage rose to $7.90 on Jan. 1 - too low
for a one- or two-bedroom apartment in any Arizona county, but
enough for a studio apartment in Apache and Graham counties at
30 percent of income, according to NLIHC data.
The Arizona Housing Alliance said in a 2013 report that access
to affordable housing units in Arizona was second-worst of any
state, topped only by Nevada. The report, using 2011 data, said
there were only 18 available affordable housing units for every
100 extremely-low-income households.
"We really have a shortage of housing for those most in need,"
Iverson said.
Daniel Romm, spokesman for the Arizona Department of Housing,
said in an email that "the need for affordable housing remains
at a premium and it is something that we must continue to
address."
But he also said "the latest news and trends regarding the
housing market within the state have been encouraging."
Romm pointed to the state's low-income housing tax credit
program and its work with disabled Arizonans as examples of
steps in the right direction.
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