7am News, Sports and Obits

Latest WGIL news
Click to play or
Right click and "Save Target As" to download
Click for Galesburg, Illinois Forecast
Home - Cancellations - Community Events - Contact Us - Mornings - News - Obituaries - Pictures - Programs - Special Events Audio - Sports - Weather
Group Devises "Rental Wage"
How much income must a family have in order to afford to rent an apartment?

It depends on what you mean by "afford." The group Illinois Housing Action defines it as the cost of rent and utilities not exceeding 30 percent of income, and given what rents are these days, it takes a wage of $17.44 an hour to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment in Illinois, according to their annual housing wage study. That's up from $17.17 last year.

Policy director Bob Palmer says a lot of people can't really afford what they're paying, and are paying a much higher percentage of their income for housing. The estimated average wage for renters in Illinois in 2010 is $15.05, down from $15.33 in 2009.

The housing wage varies across the state. For rates in various Illinois metropolitan areas, and for the county-by-county housing wage, CLICK HERE.

Palmer says the rent has gone down for high-end housing, but at the affordable level, rents are going up.

(Illinois Radio Network)
05 14 10 by Newsroom
News management powered by Xpression News

Click here for the WGIL News Archive

Click here for national news

The following provision applies to all visitors (which shall include persons and representatives of legal entities, whether such representatives are persons or digital engines of a kind that crawls, indexes, scrapes, copies, stores or transmits digital content). By accessing this Web site or digital service, you specifically acknowledge and agree that: (i) Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium; (ii) No Associated Press materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use; (iii) The Associated Press will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing; (iv) The Associated Press is an intended third party beneficiary of these terms and conditions and it may exercise all rights and remedies available to it; and (v) The Associated Press reserves the right to audit possible unauthorized commercial use of AP materials or any portion thereof at any time.