With a fair market rent of $963 a month for a two-bedroom apartment, low-income New Orleans residents need to earn an average income of $38,520 or work 2.6 full-time minimum wage jobs to afford one. Hourly, they need to make $18.52 to afford the apartment to avoid spending more than 30 percent of their income on rent and utilities.
This is from a study by the the report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, which ranks Louisiana 30th in the country in apartment affordability for low-income renters.
The average fair market rent in the state is $822 a month for a two-bedroom apartment, and the Greater New Orleans area is the most expensive in the state.
Nationally, the study says the average full-time worker needs to earn $20.30 an hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment with a fair market rent of $1,056 a month.
• Louisiana ranks 30th in apartment market affordability for low-income renters [The Advocate]