Here’s what Bellingham residents must earn to afford housing, according to a new report
Renters in Bellingham must earn nearly $27 an hour to afford a two-bedroom house or apartment at a fair market rent of just under $1,400 monthly, according to an annual study that shows many Americans are paying more for housing.
Across Washington state as a whole, renters must make $36.33 an hour, or work 92 hours a week at a job or jobs that pay the minimum wage of $15.74 per hour, according to the 2023 “Out of Reach” report released this week by the National Low-Income Housing Coalition.
Washington is the fifth most-expensive U.S. state for renters, behind No. 1 California, Hawaii, Massachusetts and New York, according to the report.
Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, urged Congress and the Biden administration to expand affordable housing and enact new renter protections.
“Too many low-income renters are facing worsening housing instability as housing costs rise and pandemic-era safety net programs expire. Evictions are increasing, and homelessness is rising, just as House Republicans work to slash funding for key affordable housing solutions,” Yentel said in a statement released with the report.
Looking at Whatcom County as a whole, the report shows that renters must earn nearly $26 an hour to afford a two-bedroom house or apartment, with fair market rent calculated at $1,355 a month.
That’s up from $24 an hour and a fair market rent of $1,250 in 2022.
But renters earn only about $19 an hour on average in Whatcom County, and can only afford a monthly rent of $963, according to the report.
That means that the average Whatcom County renter must have 1.4 jobs at $19 an hour to afford the median=priced house or apartment.
Whatcom County had more than 38,000 rental households, and 38% of residents are renters, according to the 2023 report. According to recent city of Bellingham figures, about 55% of the city’s residents are renters.
Renters in Whatcom County must earn at least $54,200 a year to afford a moderately priced house or apartment, according to the report.
The median household income for Whatcom County in 2021 was $70,011, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
This story was originally published June 16, 2023 at 2:51 PM.
