Charlotte renters need nearly 4 times minimum wage, new report finds
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The minimum wage has been $7.25 in North Carolina since 2009, but a new report by The National Low Income Housing Coalition shows a Charlotte resident would need almost four times that to afford renting a two-bedroom home.
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The Coalition measures the cost of rent compared to minimum wages. North Carolina has the 30th highest housing wage of all 50 states, according to the group.
Costs vary within cities and counties. Within Mecklenburg County, the hourly wages needed to afford a two bedroom range from around $25 to more than $40.
Here are a few of the hourly wages needed to sustain a two-bedroom home across Mecklenburg County:
Huntersville was recently listed as one of the best places to live in the United States by U.S. News and World Report. Huntersville is mostly within the zip 28078, which the Coalition identifies as having a housing wage of $40.19.
The Coalition says the average worker in North Carolina earning minimum wage would have to work 132 hours a week to afford a one-bedroom rental home. The average affordable monthly rent for someone earning $7.25 an hour would be $377.
Across the state, the two-bedroom housing wage is $27.11 — meaning Charlotte’s two-bedroom rent prices are often higher than the state average, according to the coalition data.
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To make a living wage, a single North Carolina adult should make $22.47 an hour or $46,745 a year, or two working adults should make $15.26 an hour or $63,464 a year, The News & Observer reported in March.
Charlotte-based Atrium Health, part of Advocate Health, upped the minimum wage to $18.85 in January, The Observer previously reported.
In North Carolina, the Coalition identifies these income levels as annually necessary to afford certain homes:
The group uses the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Small Area Fair Market Rents for Zip Code Tabulation Areas from the U.S. Census Bureau. These differ slightly from post office zip codes.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition offers a searchable database showing the hourly pay required to afford a two-bedroom home by zip code. Check out the cost in your zip code at nlihc.org.
David Raynor contributed to this report.
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