What Will Wages Rent

No Place (on the Housing Continuum) to Lay Their Heads

Nearly 36 million U.S. households—one-third—are renter-occupied. In spite of the focus on homeownership, rental housing still accounts for a significant portion of American “homes”. The figure for the Commonwealth of Virginia mirrors the national average—about 32%. The data for Northern Virginia, however, speak volumes about the region’s complex housing landscape. 

Compare the national average to our local statistics: in Arlington County, 57% of total households are renter-occupied; in the City of Alexandria, 60%; and in the City of Falls Church, the figure is 39%. While Fairfax County has a lower percentage of renter households, 29%, this number does not necessarily indicate that adequate rental housing exists.

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), “Renters are forced to pay unbearably high percentages of their income to afford housing, a situation which, at best, prevents their saving and planning for home ownership, and, at worst, compels them to choose among purchases of basic necessities. For too many Americans for whom decent and affordable rental housing is out of reach, homelessness is the inevitable result.”

The graphic above illustrates the housing challenge facing low-wage earners in our region. The NLIHC’s comparison of wages and rents across U.S. counties shows that heads of households earning the minimum wage ($5.15 per hour) in Arlington and Fairfax counties and the City of Alexandria must work 149 hours per week to rent a two-bedroom unit at Fair Market Rent (defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as not more than 30% of income).  Working an average, 40-hour workweek, a person must earn a minimum of $19.21 per hour to rent a two-bedroom apartment at Fair Market Rent. This calculation—what the NLIHC calls the Housing Wage—equates to an annual salary of approximately $40,000, or 373% of the minimum wage!

For over 28 years, Wesley Housing has strived to bridge this housing chasm by providing low- and moderate-income Northern Virginians with the security and dignity of a place to call home.  As the area’s housing crisis accelerates at an alarming pace, gentrification continues, and the economic downturn persists, our mission to maintain a place on the housing continuum for wage-earners to lay their heads grows more challenging with each year.

Statistics from the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s report, Out of Reach (2002).