AKRON, Ohio — A new report from the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO) outlines the cost of living in the state for renters looking for a modest two-bedroom apartment is well over the mean renter wage — and the Akron area has one of the highest disparities in the state.
According to the report, the hourly wage required to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment in the Akron area is $19.75. However, the estimated hourly mean renter wage in the area is $16.65—meaning to afford such an apartment without spending more than 30% of income on housing, an individual would have to work more than a 40-hour full-time job making at least $16.65.
The numbers in the report put Akron as the fourth most expensive area to rent, and with 32% of all households in the area being made up of renters, the issue is one impacting people from many different backgrounds.
"If we think about $19 an hour, that's a person earning about $40,000 a year—so this isn't a person who is extremely low income. This is your everyday neighbor, the person who sits next to you at church, the person who is a part of your rec softball team. These are the people we know and who we are with every single day," said Amy Riegel, executive director of COHHIO.
Housing crisis extending to new job industries
Riegel said one of the growing concerns is the rising impact housing wages around the state are having on people in once-considered stable careers.
Of the top 10 jobs in the state of Ohio, only three pay enough on average to afford a two-bedroom apartment—general operations manager ($42.29 an hour), registered nurse ($36.93) and tractor-trailer driver ($23.95).
The other seven, which include fast food, retail, customer service representative, cashier, stocker, assembler/fabricators, and laborers—aren't making enough on average to afford a two-bedroom apartment.
"Home health care aides, early childhood education service workers, even individuals working in distribution factories are not earning enough to be able to afford a two-bedroom apartment," Riegel said.
That is being felt by both employees and employers.
"Individuals who are going to work every day and who are vital resources within our community, they're worried about things like eviction and homelessness and how they're going to be able to keep their housing so that they can continue their employment," Riegel said. "And so we're really seeing that housing instability, that concern, that stress in our communities, and our employers are seeing it too. It's making it more and more difficult for employers to find a quality workforce to fill the jobs that they need for their business to thrive."
For those in Akron, finding a job that pays a living wage has grown increasingly more difficult because of the surge in housing wages in the area. That, as Reigel said, makes selecting employment more difficult — a point Akron advocates make as well.
"It’s not that people don’t want to work; people don’t want to work for nothing," said Ray Greene Jr., executive director of The Freedom Bloc. "Whether you’re Black or white, we’re all in the same boat, and we’re all losing right now."
Disparity felt across state
It's not just Akron experiencing the issues of housing wages. According to COHHIO's report, the average hourly income required in the state to afford a two-bedroom apartment is $19.09, with the average renter wage in the state estimated at $18.47.
From last year, that is around a $2 increase. The year before, the increase was $0.75.
The continued rise in disparity has prompted state leaders to look for solutions, including Gov. Mike DeWine's proposed affordable housing tax credit program, which has been restored to the budget passed by the Senate last week, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.
DeWine's proposal in the budget caps credits at $100 million, which would create about 4,000 housing units in the state if the budget is signed as-is by June 30. However, another version proposed by the House would have capped credits at $500 million, which would have created 26,000 housing units.
Still, any work to create more affordable housing is work that the state desperately needs, Reigel said.
"The hope is that when a person needs housing, and when they go out to look, there is a unit available for everyone, no matter who you are or what your means are—that there are opportunities available for you. And then the American Dream really can continue to live on, and we can all have a place to build upon and to create a great future," Reigel said.
To read the full report from COHHIO with area and county-by-county breakdowns, click here.
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