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For Nearly 1.4 Million Georgians, Paying Rent Requires 3.5 Full-Time Minimum-Wage Jobs in 2024 – WSB-TV Channel 2

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ATLANTA — The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s 2024 “Out of Reach” report says that not only does Georgia have the 20th highest housing wage requirements in the country, but to afford an apartment, you may need to work as many as 3.5 full-time jobs.

The NLIHC’s annual report on wages versus rental costs showed that Georgia had 1.38 million people renting their homes, or about 35 percent of all Georgia households.

In their report, which examines the cost of fair rent compared to the minimum wage, Georgians earning just $7.25 an hour would have to work about 140 hours a week to pay the rent for a two-bedroom apartment.

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The NLIHC report includes a section on Georgia called “The Housing Wage,” or the amount needed to afford different types of housing. The required wage ranges from $24.45 to $43.11 depending on whether you are renting a zero- to four-bedroom residence.

Fair market rent, what the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development considers the cost of a standard or average apartment, ranges from $1,272 to $2,242 for zero to four bedrooms, although actual rental costs are not always consistent with the FMR.

Although the state of Georgia does not have a minimum wage higher than the current federal standard, the average hourly wage in Georgia is $23.44 per hour.

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This means that even for those earning Georgia’s average hourly wage, a zero-bedroom residence may not be affordable.

For rent to be affordable at the standard minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, Georgia rents would have to be $377 per month. Based on the minimum wage and the FMR, the NLIHC said Georgians would have to work between 140 and 238 hours per week to afford a one- to four-bedroom rental.

A seven-day week has only 168 hours in total.

For a single person working $7.25 an hour, paying rent in the FMR listed in the Out of Reach report, they would have only 28 hours of free time per week if they planned to rent a one-bedroom apartment.

In Georgia, you might have 28 hours to spare, but in Atlanta, you’ll never have enough.

While statewide levels are a base of $25.39 per hour needed to rent a one-bedroom apartment if you live alone, zooming in to the Atlanta metro area makes the costs higher, meaning you’ll have to work more hours.

Atlanta residents working for just $7.25 would have to work at least 174 hours a week to afford a one-bedroom residence.

For a one-bedroom apartment in Atlanta, workers would need to earn $31.60 per hour to afford housing wages and the FMR is $1,643 according to the NLIHC.

Despite these numbers, Georgia rental markets vary, and many organizations and government agencies provide some form of assistance to potential renters, such as federal housing vouchers or rental assistance programs in different cities.

However, the latest inflation reports show that housing remains the main driver of inflation for Georgians and other Americans.

For more information on the various housing assistance programs in Georgia, go online here.

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