Did You Know?
Affordable housing facts you should know:
What do you mean by "affordable"?
- A home or apartment that is affordable to those families earning 80% of Area Median Income ($51,500/year for a family of four) or below.
- 50% of Area Median Income represents a family of four earning $32,188 a year.
Additionally:
- Affordable housing demand far outstrips supply.
- Even rental housing is unaffordable to many working households.
- Rental units much more likely to experience deterioration.
- 25,000 lowest income renters pay over half of their income for housing.
- 11,000 low income homeowners pay over half of their income for housing.
- Home foreclosures have tripled in Columbus and Franklin County over the past seven years.
The Need
The affordability gap affects both potential homebuyers and those who rent.
In 2006 the average sales price of a home (new or existing in Franklin County) was $157,900.
The average cost of a home in Columbus/Franklin County rose 79% in the past ten years. Lower and middle income wages have increased only 29%. Wages have not kept pace with inflation, therefore, more families must spend a greater portion of their income to own or rent a home.
This means that working families are paying a much greater portion of their incomes for house payments or rent, leaving much less for food, clothing, education or medical problems. These families have no reserves in times of emergency.
Rental housing is unaffordable to many working families.
A full time worker needs to earn $12.31 an hour or $25,600 a year to afford rent and utilities for a two bedroom market rate apartment in Franklin County. In 2000, 117,615 households had incomes below $25,000.
Federal Minimum wage is $5.17/hr. Minimum wage has not increased since 1997 and has not kept pace with inflation.
