More than 50 percent of renters in Illinois don’t have enough money to afford a two-bedroom apartment in the state, a report released Tuesday by Housing Action Illinois and the National Low Income Housing Coalition shows.
The
housing wage in Illinois is $16.78. That means a family must earn at
least that hourly amount for 40 hours a week and 52 weeks per year in
order to pay rent and utilities for a safe, modest two-bedroom
apartment.
But the average private-housing renter in Illinois
earns $13.95, which is $2.82 less than the hourly wage needed to afford a
unit, said Bob Palmer, policy director at Housing Action Illinois.
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