Prairie State Wire

Illinois residents need to earn $22.80 per hour to comfortably afford a modest two-bedroom apartment, the 20th highest “housing wage” among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to a new housing study.

In the Prairie State, a modest two-bedroom on average rents for $1,186, according to an analysis by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC). To afford such rent without paying more than 30% of their income, Illinois residents need to earn $47,434 annually, the study said.

Nationally, the wage needed to afford such a dwelling is even higher – $25.82 per hour. And in the Chicago metro area, the two-bedroom housing wage is $25.77.

In Illinois, the minimum wage is now $12 per hour, well above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 but still under half of the wages needed to afford a two-bedroom apartment by working a 40-hour week throughout the year, according to the study’s authors.

Among Illinois’ metro areas, the housing wage varies substantially. In Bond County, where a two-bedroom apartment costs $735 per month, the hourly wage needed to afford such an apartment is $14.13. 

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How States Rank on 2-Bedroom ‘Housing Wage’ 

Rank	State	Housing Wage for 2-Bedroom Fair Market Rent
1	Hawaii	$40.63
2	California	$39.01
3	Massachusetts	$37.97
4	New York	$37.72
5	District of Columbia	$34.33
6	Washington	$31.33
7	New Jersey	$31.32
8	Colorado	$28.94
9	Maryland	$28.93
10	Connecticut	$27.80
11	Oregon	$27.65
12	Florida	$26.38
13	New Hampshire	$26.29
14	Virginia	$24.85
15	Rhode Island	$24.32
16	Alaska	$24.32
17	Nevada	$23.70
18	Arizona	$23.44
19	Vermont	$23.40
20	Illinois	$22.80
21	Delaware	$22.76
22	Maine	$22.69
23	Texas	$22.54
24	Minnesota	$22.41
25	Utah	$22.18
26	Georgia	$20.97
27	Pennsylvania	$20.90
28	South Carolina	$19.30
29	North Carolina	$19.18
30	Michigan	$19.10
31	Idaho	$18.87
32	Wisconsin	$18.56
33	Tennessee	$18.30
34	Louisiana	$17.69
35	Montana	$17.65
36	New Mexico	$17.56
37	Wyoming	$17.07
38	Ohio	$17.05
39	Nebraska	$16.98
40	Indiana	$16.97
41	Missouri	$16.94
42	Kansas	$16.91
43	North Dakota	$16.61
44	Oklahoma	$16.61
45	Iowa	$16.55
46	Alabama	$16.32
47	Kentucky	$16.18
48	South Dakota	$16.11
49	Mississippi	$15.67
50	West Virginia	$15.38
51	Arkansas	$14.89

Source: National Low Income Housing Coalition