Hey there, Asheville. 👋 The National Low Income Housing Coalition just released a new study that reports the gap between renters’ wages + the cost of rental housing across the US. 🏠 Which got us thinking — how much does it cost, on average, to rent a two-bedroom apartment in the Asheville area? 🧐 Let’s break it down, by the numbers.
💰 $1255. The Fair Market Rental (FMR) price (including utilities) for a two-bedroom apartment in the Asheville Metropolitan area. In NC, the FMR for the same-sized apartment is $919. Fair Market Rent is established by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and is the rent amount, including utilities (excluding telephone), to rent privately owned, existing, decent, safe and sanitary rental housing of modest (non-luxury) nature with suitable amenities.
💰 97. The number of hours you’d have to work per week on minimum wage (in NC this is $7.25) to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Asheville. A renter that makes a mean wage would need to work 68 hours a week to afford the same-sized apartment.
💰 3.3. The number of full-time jobs – at minimum wage – it takes to afford a two-bedroom apartment (FMR) in Asheville.
💰 $24.13. The hourly wage an Asheville resident would have to make to afford a two-bedroom apartment in the city. That’s a yearly income of $50,200.
💰 36%. The percent of Asheville’s population currently renting. Out of 107,093 households in the city, 38,821 rent.
💰 28. North Carolina currently ranks as the 28st most expensive state for renters in the country for renters. Hawaii is the most expensive + Arkansas is the least expensive.
For more city data, state data, and to compare with other metropolitan areas, go here and click around. It’s kinda fun to put our numbers beside Hawaii’s. 💸
