Mind the Gap

So much for HUD’s federal affordability standard, which estimates that housing costs should eat up no more than 30 percent of household income. Using that formula, a worker putting in 40 hours per week at minimum wage cannot currently afford rent and utilities for a one-bedroom apartment anywhere in the country, much less a two-bedroom unit. That’s according to “Out of Reach 2005,” a study issued by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. The coalition’s national “housing wage”—a benchmark that reflects the hourly rate a worker must earn to afford a two-bedroom unit—is now calculated at $15.78, up from $15.37 in 2004. The federal minimum wage is $5.15 per hour.