News
WHO CAN AFFORD IT?
December 8, 2011
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| This morning, the Center for Housing Policy's Laura Williams told us HUD's fair market rent for Baltimore (40% of area rents) is $1,052 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,263 for a two-bedroom. To keep housing expenditures at a third of income, she says, a resident would have to make $42k a year for a one-bedroomaffordable housing unit or $51k for a two-bedroom. That's not a lot considering average median income for the metro is $84,500. |
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| In fact, Laura pulled some figures on income by industry. Bank tellers, cashiers, waiters, and reporters (sigh) can't afford a one-bedroom HUD apartment. Firefighters can't afford a two-bedroom one. (Police officers, preschool teachers, and librarians, though, can handle it.) Laura says over half of very low-income (less than 60% of area median income) Baltimoreans spend more than half their income on housing, which means less money on food, kids, and random trips to the mall. |
