MID-HUDSON – A just-released Pattern for Progress report examines the gap between wages and the cost of rental housing for those living in the nine-county region.
The report found that a single person making average wages cannot afford rent and modest living expenses in any of the counties. A renter making average wages falls short of their bills by $336 to $2,908, depending on the county in which they live. The outlook is equally difficult for families in rental housing, and worse for single parents.
“The conclusions in Out of Reach should trouble anyone who cares about the wellbeing of our neighbors who depend on rental housing,” Pattern CEO Adam Bosch said. “Too many people cannot afford their rent and living expenses without considerable help. The people who are struggling most work in grocery stores, schools, medical facilities, restaurants, and other necessary jobs that make our region viable and attractive. The Hudson Valley will struggle to sustain a workforce unless we understand the systems that created the imbalance between wages and rent, and actively seek solutions that will help people to live in our communities without emptying their pockets every month.”
The full Out of Reach report can be found here.
Out of Reach utilizes county-by-county data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, which examines hourly wages and fair-market rents to measure the affordability of
rental housing. Affordability is calculated on the standard that no individual or family should spend more than 30 percent of its total monthly income on housing. Pattern examined data for the nine-county region, including Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester counties.
