Surprise, surprise, it’s extremely expensive to live in San Francisco.
And that hasn't changed with the pandemic.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition released a report Wednesday that shows how difficult living in the city is for those not bringing in a three-figure salary.
The data shows that earning minimum wage in San Francisco, $16.32 an hour, means that a person needs to work 4.9 full-time jobs a week to afford a fair market rent two-bedroom apartment.
And nowhere else in America is less affordable for a low-income earner than California. The report reveals that a worker in California needs to earn over $39 an hour to cover rent on a two-bed home, versus $34 an hour in New York and $25 in Oregon. The most affordable state is Arkansas, at $14.
San Francisco is far and away the most unaffordable metropolitan area in the country, with the hourly wage required to afford rent on a two-bedroom home listed at $68.33. Bay Area cities are the top four unaffordable metro areas, with San Jose coming in second at $58.67, Santa Cruz third at $58.10 and Oakland in fourth at $45.83.
San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo are in a three-way tie for most expensive counties to make rent in America.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia Fudge prefaced the report, highlighting the urgency for more affordable housing in the U.S.
"Even before the pandemic, our nation had a shortage of 7 million affordable and available homes for renters with the lowest incomes," Fudge wrote. "As a result, 70% of these households routinely spent more than half of their incomes on rent. They have little ability to save — and one emergency or unexpected expense could send them into homelessness. We can and must do more."
The report also shows how race and ethnicity plays a factor in housing affordability for low-wage workers.
The data shows that the median Black worker and Latino worker in America earn 24% and 26% less than the median white worker.
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