NorthEscambia.com
A new report shows affordable housing is simply out of reach for many Escambia County residents.
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), a minimum wage worker in Escambia County must work 80 hours per week to afford a two bedroom apartment at fair market value.
Florida’s minimum wage is $8.25, and Escambia County’s fair market rent for a modest two bedroom rental is $846. According to the NLIHC, workers need to earn $33,840 to afford that apartment — the equivalent of two full time jobs at minimum wage.
The numbers are based on a renter spending 30 percent of his or her income on housing costs, and fair market rent provides an estimate of what a family moving today can expect to pay for a modestly priced rental in a given area.
In order the afford a two bedroom apartment in Escambia County, the report says a worker needs to earn $16.27 per hour. There are 46,096 renter households — about 40 percent of all households — in Escambia County. Those household earn an estimate average wage of $15.12.
“Florida has the nation’s third-highest homeless population, including veterans and families with children. More than 950,000 low income hardworking families, elders and disabled Floridians living on fixed incomes pay more than 50 percent of their incomes for housing,” said Jaimie Ross, president of the Florida Housing Coalition. “Florida’s housing crisis is real; we have a dedicated revenue source to address this crisis.”
Article last accessed on June 18, 2018 here. A print-ready PDF is available here.