Affordable Housing in Connecticut is Still a Struggle For Many

Let's get right to the hard facts. According to Patch.com, a renter needs to make $24.29 an hour to afford a two bedroom apartment in Connecticut.

That would be $8.12 per hour more than the average Connecticut renter makes. That turns out to be $971.60 a week or $3,886.40 a month or $46,636.80 a year to live in a decent two bedroom apartment based on the recommendations of economists, who say that renters should pay no more than 30% of their annual income on housing.

Rents keep rising because the demand for rental units has increased due to the drop in home ownership, which hasn't been this low since 1989. The unfortunate result is people are being forced out of the rental market and it's worse in Connecticut than most parts of the country.

In Connecticut, people near the bottom of the wage scale need to work 84 hours a week to afford a one bedroom apartment.

The problem: jobs have increased and wages have not, forcing around 21 million Americans to try and get by on a minimum wage salary according to the Pew Research Center. 

Here are the extreme highs and lows in regards to rental affordability. On the high end of the scale is Hawaii, where you need to make $31.16 an hour to afford a two bedroom apartment. On the low end is Arkansas, where earning $12.95 an hour will help you afford a two bedroom. I'm not moving to Arkansas.

Listen to Ethan Carey on the Ethan & Lou Show weekdays from 5:30-10AM on 95.1 FM. You can listen online at i95rock.com/listen-live/ or by downloading the radioPup app for your mobile device.