An individual in Connecticut would have to earn $23.22/hr to make enough to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Connecticut without spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs.  A two-bedroom apartment costs $1,208 in Connecticut, whereas the fair market rent for a two bedroom apartment nationwide is $977. This makes Connecticut the 8th most expensive state to rent a two-bedroom apartment in a nation where the average housing wage is $18.79.

This data comes from Out of Reach 2013, an annual report released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) that compares wages to rents in every county, Metropolitan Area (MSAs/HMFAs), combined nonmetropolitan area and state in the United States. The report calculates the hourly wage a worker must earn to afford the FMR for a two-bedroom home - this figure is known as the Housing Wage. NLIHC releases Out of Reach each year in coordination with their local partners, including the Connecticut Housing Coalition (CHC), which found that “more than half of the state’s jobs do not, on average, provide an income sufficient to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment.”

Additional data revealed by the report about Connecticut:

• The Stamford-Norwalk metropolitan area is the third most expensive rental market in the country with a housing wage of $31.69 an hour.
• The non-metropolitan area housing wage is $19.51, making Connecticut the 5th least affordable for renters in these areas.
• The average wage for a renter is $16.21 which would require that renter to work 57 hours a week, 52 weeks per year to afford a FMR two bedroom apartment.
• Someone earning the minimum wage of minimum wage of $8.25/hour would need to work 113 hours per week to be able to afford the $1,208 per month statewide fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment.

Read the full report - Out of Reach 2013

Click here to view the Summary for Connecticut.

Read CHC's press release of Out of Reach 2013. 
 
Click here to read about Out of Reach 2012.

Read the Hartford Courant piece on Out of Reach 2013.

Listen to WNPR report on Out of Reach 2013 - Renters Struggle To Find Affordable Housing