Report: $21-Per-Hour Wage Needed To Afford 2-Bedroom Apartment In Colorado

<p>(Courtesy National Low Income Housing Coalition)</p>
<p>This map from the National Low Income Housing Coalition shows how much a worker needs to make per hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment in each state.</p>
Photo: Housing affordability map
This map from the National Low Income Housing Coalition shows how much a worker needs to make per hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment in each state.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition crunched federal rent and population data to reach its conclusions. The report defines a “housing wage” as how much a worker must earn to spend no more than 30-percent of their income renting a below-average apartment.

Colorado ranks 14th in the nation for highest housing wage. Outside of the cities, renters fair slightly worse. The state has the eighth-highest non-metropolitan housing age in the country.

The report finds that the average Colorado renter makes a bit more than $15 an hour, just a little less than what’s needed to afford a modest one-bedroom apartment.