Discussions of the affordable housing crisis may sometimes seem arcane, and what people think of as “affordable” is rapidly changing amid dramatic rent increases. But reports by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, put the issue into perspective.
In metro Atlanta:
· An annual income of $47,000 was needed in 2021 to afford a two-bedroom rental home with the fair market price of $1,185 a month.
· An unskilled worker would have to perform more than three full-time jobs at minimum wage to afford a market-rate two-bedroom apartment.
· Those earning 30% or less of the median income — $22,000 a year — can afford rent of no more than $566 a month.
· About 120,000 additional affordable housing units are needed for households classified as having very low incomes.
