FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 12/12/06
For more information contact:

Robert Thomas, President 803-259-7636
Gloria J. Bowden, Executive Director 803-808-2980 (Columbia)

Local Families Must Earn $11.82 an Hour to Afford a Two-Bedroom Apartment

South Carolina’s high cost of housing highlighted in 2006 housing affordability report

Washington, DC (December 12, 2006)—According to a report released today, the Housing Wage for South Carolina is $ 11.82. The Housing Wage is the hourly wage a family must earn – working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year – to be able to afford rent and utilities in the private housing market. This represents an increase of 19.9% since 2000.

“Every year it is becoming more difficult for low income families to find decent homes they can afford in South Carolina,” said Robert Thomas, President of the Affordable Housing Coalition of SC.  “This report clearly illustrates the pressing need for affordable housing in our communities.”

The report, Out of Reach 2006, was jointly released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), a Washington, DC-based housing advocacy group, and the Affordable Housing Coalition of South Carolina, Inc. The report provides the Housing Wage and other data for every state, metropolitan area and county in the country.

The typical renter in SC earns $ 9.77, which is $ 2.05 less than the hourly wage needed to afford a modest unit.

Working at the minimum wage of $5.15 per hour, a family must have 2.3 wage earners working full-time—or one full-time earner working 92 hours per week—to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment. 

An estimated 43% of renters in SC do not earn enough income to afford a two-bedroom unit at the Fair Market Rent.

This year, South Carolina is the seventeenth most expensive state in the nation for renters. The National Housing Wage is $16.31.

The Affordable Housing Coalition of South Carolina, Inc., is the lead advocate for providing resources for low to moderate income families in our state to obtain clean, safe and affordable housing.

For more information, visit NLIH.

Downloadable Information and Data
South Carolina Out of Reach 2006 Report Overview (pdf)
2005 S.C. Renter Wage Rankings (xls)