Here's how much you need to earn to afford a home in South Carolina
In a report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, an organization dedicated on educating about the affordable housing crisis, South Carolina ranked No. 28, for highest housing wage.
The Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom apartment in South Carolina is $1,004. For people in the state to afford rent and utilities without paying more than 30% of their income on housing must earn at least $3,346 monthly or $40,147 annually, according to the 'Out of Reach' report by NLIHC.
The 'Out of Reach' report shows significant gaps between renters’ wages and the cost of rental housing across the nation. Renters will the lowest income have challenges finding affordable housing.
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The minimum wage in the state is $7.25. For an individual to afford a 1-bedroom in the state, they would have to work 91 hours a week at Fair Market Rent.
Greenville, Mauldin and Easley ranked No. 5 for the state's most expensive areas, with $19.08 being the housing wage.
In Greenville, occupations like wait staff, fast food and counter workers, janitors, retail salespersons, customer service representatives and even nursing assistants would make less than the one-bedroom housing wage of $16.58.
In Spartanburg, the hourly wage to afford a two-bedroom is $16.62 and $34,560 annually, and in Anderson, $16.02, which would be $33,320 annually, according to the report.
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To afford housing in the Upstate, jobs like general managers, registered nurses, accountants and auditors, who all make a median hourly wage of $30 and more, could afford to live here.
A 2020 report from the Greenville Housing Fund, a nonprofit entity that works to create and preserve affordable housing, has shown there's a significant disparity between the number of households that earn less than 30% of the city's area median income and the number of affordable units available.
There were nearly 4,000 households in the city of Greenville that earned less than $15,000 a year, or a little less than 30% of the area median income, in 2019, Census data shows. Of those households, there were only about 800 units affordable to them in the city.
Tamia Boyd is a Michigan native who covers breaking news in Greenville. Email her at tboyd@gannett.com, and follow her on Twitter @tamiamb.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina ranks No. 28 in highest housing wages, report says
