PORTLAND, Ore. -- The hourly wage needed to comfortably afford a 2-bedroom apartment rose by $3 in the past year, according to a report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
In last year's report, Oregonians would have to make $16. 61 per hour to afford a 2-bedroom apartment while working a 40-hour week, 52 weeks per year, without paying more than 30 percent of income on housing.
This year, that number jumped up to $19.38 per hour. With the set $9.25 per hour minimum wage, you would have to work 84 hours to afford a 2-bedroom unit at market value which is $1,008.
The report goes on to say that many low income Oregonians are facing a housing cost burden, made even worse by a deficit of rental units.
In 2015, Oregon ranked 25th overall for highest rent. This year's report landed us in the 18th spot.
Washington ranked 10th this year, where you need to make $23.13 per hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment. California ranked 3rd, with a wage of $28.59 per hour.
Thoughts? I will say this, we have an unusually high amount of residents mooching off welfare programs with some crazy high number like one third of people using food stamps. But, we also have a legal weed industry that is BOOMING and the amount of taxes collected on that will be billions annually (Just became legal last year). The sad part is this is not even the worst nationally, not by a long shot. If you don't have two forms of income, yikes. I still love my state regardless.
