SPOKANE, Wash. — Looking for a two-bedroom apartment in Spokane? You would need to make $16.71 per hour to afford it, according to a new report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
That is below the Washington state average, which is $23.64 per hour. Larger metropolitan areas in the state bring the average up. In Seattle, you would need to make $29.21 per hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment.
The coalition’s Out of Reach 2017 report looked at the gap between renters’ wages and the cost of rental housing. The study defines affordability as spending no more than 30-percent of your gross income on rent. If a household spends more than that, it is considered "cost burdened."
With a minimum wage in Washington state of $11.50 an hour, you would need to work 86 hours a week to afford that two-bedroom rental at fair market value.
Washington, which required an average of at least $23.64 an hour to afford a two-bedroom, had the 10th highest housing wage in the nation, according to the study.
IDAHO
It is a different story in Idaho, which required at least $14.65 to afford a two-bedroom rental home. The gem state had the 46th highest housing wage in the nation, according to the study.
In Coeur d’Alene, you need to make $15.54 an hour to afford that two-bedroom.
Idaho state minimum wage is $7.25, so you would need to work 81 hours a week to afford a two-bedroom rental at fair market value.
ACROSS THE NATION
As for the rest of the 50 states, Hawaii had the highest housing wage at $35.20 per hour, and Arkansas had the lowest housing wage at $13.72 per hour.