Affordable housing in South Florida: How much will I pay? Who qualifies?

Lianna Norman, Palm Beach Post
Updated ·4 min read
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WEST PALM BEACH — South Florida is growing at a rate so fast that available housing can't keep up. Affordable housing is even harder to come by, as over one thousand people each day move to the sunshine state.

Palm Beach County is the third most populous and fastest-growing county in the state, with almost 12% of the county's population living in poverty; that's around 13 million people.

According to 2022 income data released by the county last July, a yearly salary of $54,000 to $72,000 is considered low-income. The per capita income for Palm Beach County, according to the most recent data recorded by the Census Bureau, is $43,733 each year — around $21.87 hourly and an estimated monthly take-home pay of $2,846 each month. The average cost of rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Palm Beach County ranges from around $2,300 to about $3,100 each month, depending on location, according to data reported by The Post in March.

For a person with a yearly salary of $43,733, paying half of the rent each month for a $2,300 apartment would leave them with around $1,700 for the entire month. The same salary paired with covering half of the rent for a $3,100 apartment would leave $1,296 for the rest of the month.

Once car insurance payments, utilities, groceries and Wi-Fi are paid for, there's little money left for the average worker in Palm Beach County to save. This math problem begs the question: Is there affordable housing in Palm Beach County?

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The Guatemalan Maya Center organized a rally on housing affordability at Lake Worth Beach town hall Saturday July 30, 2022. Attendees signed a petition to declare a state of emergency regarding housing in Lake Worth Beach.
The Guatemalan Maya Center organized a rally on housing affordability at Lake Worth Beach town hall Saturday July 30, 2022. Attendees signed a petition to declare a state of emergency regarding housing in Lake Worth Beach.

"Workforce housing" describes a type of affordable housing program that is for residents who aren't necessarily low-income, but have a hard time making enough money to live in a region with a costly real estate market, like Palm Beach County. Affordable housing is for residents considered to be low-income or unemployed.

Elected officials also seem to favor "workforce housing" over "affordable housing" proposals because of the stigma surrounding affordable housing projects. That phrase tends to become synonymous with dilapidated section 8 housing bringing down surrounding property values, rather than the police officer, nurse and teacher tenants that government officials associate with the phrase "workforce housing." But in Palm Beach County, where most of these jobs come with salaries that are under the area's median income, affordable housing is for the workforce.

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How much workforce housing is there in Palm Beach County?

People attend an unveiling of 36 homes built under the City of West Palm Beach's workforce housing program in the Pleasant City neighborhood, June 17, 2021.
People attend an unveiling of 36 homes built under the City of West Palm Beach's workforce housing program in the Pleasant City neighborhood, June 17, 2021.

There are only 1,317 available workforce housing units, dispersed throughout a list of 18 apartment complexes listed on Palm Beach County's website under "workforce housing." After assessing the impact of the pandemic on the local workforce last year, the Housing Leadership Council of Palm Beach County set a goal to bring 20,000 units of workforce and affordable housing to the county by 2032. There is no update on this initiative available on the leadership council's website.

Workforce and affordable housing opportunities in Palm Beach County are still slim, compared to the 13 million people in the county that live in poverty and are in need of affordable housing opportunities. And workforce housing unit pricing in Palm Beach County rarely drops below $1,000 per month.

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Who qualifies for affordable housing in Florida?

The majority of Palm Beach County's residents are eligible to apply for workforce housing. An individual or household can make up to $126,000 each year and still qualify. Being verified to receive workforce housing, though, requires an application process due to limited available units.

Each of the 18 apartment complexes listed under the county's "workforce housing" tab has its own verification process. The rent for workforce housing units typically corresponds with a tenant's income level.

Here are the price ranges tenants can expect for workforce housing in Palm Beach County, based on apartment size:

  • Studio apartment: $966-$2,254

  • 1 Bedroom: $1,035-$2,415

  • 2 Bedroom: $1,242-$2,898

  • 3 Bedroom: $1,435-$3,349

  • 4 Bedroom: $1,602-$3,738

An earlier version of this story included miscalculated values for take-home pay on a yearly salary of $43,733.

Lianna Norman covers trending news in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at lnorman@pbpost.com. You can follow her reporting on social media@LiannaNorman on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Rent levels for workforce, affordable housing in Palm Beach County