For nearly 1.4M Georgians, affording rent means you need to work 3.5 full-time, minimum wage jobs

ATLANTA — The 2024 “Out of Reach” report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition says that not only is Georgia the 20th highest housing wage requirement in the country, but that to afford an apartment, you may need to work as many as 3.5 full-time jobs.

The NLIHC’s yearly report on wages versus rental costs showed Georgia had 1.38 million people who rent their homes, equal to about 35% of all Georgia households.

In their report, which examined the cost of fair market rent compared to the minimum wage, Georgians earning just $7.25 per hour would need to work roughly 140 hours per week to make the rent for a two-bedroom apartment.

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The NLIHC’s report includes a section on Georgia which they call the “Housing Wage,” or what is needed to afford various housing setups. The wage requirement ranges from $24.45 to $43.11 depending on if you’re renting a zero-bedroom to four-bedroom residence.

The Fair Market Rent , what the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development considers to be what a standard, or average, apartment should cost ranges from $1,272 to $2,242 from zero to four bedrooms, though the actual costs of rent are not always in line with the FMR.

While the state of Georgia does not have a minimum wage higher than the current federal standard, the average income per hour in Georgia is $23.44 per hour.

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That means that even for those earning Georgia’s average wages per hour, a zero-bedroom residence may not be affordable.

For rent to be affordable at the standard minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, Georgia rentals would have to be $377 per month. Based on minimum wage and FMR, NLIHC said Georgians would have to work between 140 to 238 hours per week to afford a one-bedroom to four-bedroom rental.

A seven-day week only has 168 hours total.

For someone living on their own and working for $7.25 per hour, affording rent at the FMR listed by the “Out of Reach” report would only have 28 hours of free time each week if they planned on renting a single-bedroom apartment.

Across Georgia, you may have those spare 28 hours, but in Atlanta, you’ll never have enough time.

While the statewide levels are a baseline of $25.39 per hour needed to rent a one-bedroom if living by yourself, zooming in on the metro Atlanta area makes the costs higher, which means you’ll need to work more hours.

Atlanta residents working for just $7.25 would need to get at least 174 hours per week to afford a one-bedroom residence.

For a one-bedroom apartment in Atlanta, workers would need to earn $31.60 per hour to afford the housing wage and the FMR is a reported $1,643 according to NLIHC.

Despite those numbers, Georgia’s rental markets do vary, and multiple organizations and government agencies provide some forms of assistance to prospective renters, such as housing vouchers from the federal government, or rental assistance programs in different cities.

Still, the latest inflation reports show housing remains the largest driver of inflation for Georgians and other Americans.

For more information on various housing assistance programs in Georgia, head online here.

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