[A] national report finds a significant gap between the wages Vermont renters earn and the cost of rental housing.
Vermont has the fifth largest gap between the average wage for renters and the income needed to afford a two-bedroom apartment, according to the 2017 Out of Reach report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
The report calculates that a two-bedroom residence and utilities in Vermont requires a wage of $21.90 an hour, or roughly $45,545 annually. That could come from a single earner, or from more than one person in the household making lower wages that add up to that amount.
Within Vermont, the Burlington area has the highest housing wage, where it takes $26.83 an hour to afford a two-bedroom home and utilities. Windsor County ranks second, at $20.33.
In Vermont, renters earned an estimated average of $12.51 hourly in 2016, an income on which a single earner could afford monthly rent of $650, according to the report.
“Affordable” means the home and utilities together take up no more than 30 percent of gross income. The report uses a standard cost of $1,139 a month for a two-bedroom home in Vermont.
With the average costs of rental properties in Vermont, a single earner would need to work 88 hours a week at the $10 minimum wage in order to afford a two-bedroom home. To afford a one-bedroom home, someone would need to work 69 hours a week at minimum wage, according to the report.
Erhard Mahnke, of the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition, said the report illustrates that Vermont “continues to struggle with housing affordability.”
Rents are rising at a higher rate than wages, he said. The gap between the wages people earn and the cost of rent is a statewide phenomenon, but it is particularly pronounced in the Chittenden County area, he said.
“It’s an indication that a lot of folks are just a couple paychecks away of being at risk of homelessness,” Mahnke said.
Mahnke said there are three main components that are necessary in order to solve what he calls Vermont’s “chronic affordable housing crisis.”
There is a need for capital investment to build housing and to renovate existing lower-quality properties. There is also a need for rental assistance, to help fill the gap between the cost of properties available on the rental market and what renters can afford. Finally, he said, services for homeless people need to be funded.
On the state level, Mahnke said housing advocates hope for passage of the version of the fiscal year 2018 state budget that lawmakers approved this year, which includes a $35 million bond to fund affordable housing. Scott vetoed that budget, and it is expected to come up before the Legislature again next week during a special veto session.
Mahnke also said cuts to housing programs in the federal budget President Donald Trump proposed could have a big impact on housing programs in Vermont.