The 2018 Out of Reach report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition finds that in no state, city, or county can a working earning minimum wage afford a two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent by working only 40 hours a week.
In North Carolina, the average renter would need to work 90 hours per week at a minimum wage job in order to afford a two-bedroom apartment or 75 hours per week to afford a one-bedroom. As the report states, “the struggle to afford modest rental homes is not limited to minimum-wage workers.” Even North Carolinians earning the mean renter wage (estimated at $14.66 per hour, $7 per hour above minimum wage) would need to work 45 hours per week to afford a two-bedroom at fair market rent.
