The ideal hourly wage needed to rent a two-bedroom apartment in Georgia is $19.42 an hour, according to a new report.
The 2021 Out of Reach report, published Tuesday by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, shows how much a full-time worker in each state would need to earn to rent a two-bedroom apartment without spending more than 30% of their income.
The Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Georgia is $1,010 a month, ranking 25th in the nation.
Analysts estimated for Georgians to afford rent and utilities at 30% of their income, they must earn $3,366 a month or $40,398 a year.
TOO MANY ADS? GO AD-FREE
Did You Know?: The ads you see on this site help pay for our website and our work. However, we know some of our readers would rather pay and not see ads. For those users we offer a paid newsletter that contains our articles with no ads.
What You Get: A daily email digest of our articles in full-text with no ads.
About 37% of workers in the state rent their homes, the report showed. The average renter, however, made $18 an hour. Georgians who earn minimum wage – $7.25 an hour – have to work 107 hours a week to afford a two-bedroom apartment in the state.
The most affordable renting market in Georgia is the Pulaski County metro area, according to the report. The Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the region was $648 a month, which means workers in the area must make $12.46 an hour to afford rent comfortably.
The most expensive metro area is Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell. Renters there must make $22.79 an hour to afford the Fair Market Rent of $1,185 per month.
The Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Georgia is $840, meaning renters need to earn $34,864, or $16.76 an hour, to afford the space. Minimum-wage workers must work 92 hours a week to make the mark.
Most of Georgia’s workforce, or 124,150 people, are employed in the retail industry, the report showed. They made a median salary of $11.74 an hour. Laborers, material movers and workers in the freight industry make up the second-largest workforce and earn $14.45 an hour. The report showed that 123,620 Georgians work in the industry.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition is a Washington-based nonprofit dedicated to finding affordable for housing low-income Americans.