Make over $70K a year? If you don't, you cannot afford to live in the Stamford-Norwalk area.
That's according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition's annual Out of Reach Report. It details the hourly wage needed to afford a two-bedroom apartment by state, county and metropolitan area.
And (drumroll please) the Stamford-Norwalk region is the most expensive in the nation, for metro areas anyway. You need to make at least $32.75 an hour to afford your place.
And statewide, Connecticut doesn't fare well either. It's the sixth most expensive state -- behind San Francisco, which is ranked second at $31.88 per hour; followed by Honolulu at $31.37; Westchester County, N.Y., at $30.96; and Santa Cruz, Calif., at $30.58 per hour.
According to the report, despite the emphasis on homeownership, renter households still make up a third of the households in the United States, according to the Stamford Advocate. In fact, more than 36 million households are renting.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recommends a household should not pay more than 30 percent of its total income on housing.
