High rents make Bay Area tenants most stressed in U.S.
Low-wage workers need 4 full-time jobs to afford rent in some counties
The Bay Area is the least affordable region in the country for low- and moderate-income renters, with San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties topping the list, according to a new report.
Santa Clara, Alameda and Contra Costa counties also remain among the top 10 most income-stressing spots in the country, according to an analysis released Tuesday by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
The average worker in the most expensive Bay Area counties needs to make $64 an hour to afford a two-bedroom unit — about 5% higher than last year. The heavy housing costs mean a minimum wage worker needs the equivalent of four full-time jobs to make rent and have enough left for food and family expenses.
“This report is a clarion call for the action we need to take,” said Amie Fishman, executive director of the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California. The organization has teamed with more than 100 housing advocacy groups in requesting more vigorous federal aid to meet affordable housing needs made worse during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bay Area housing crunch continues to stress renters at most incomes, taking an outsized
chunk of paychecks from hourly workers making even twice the state’s $13 an hour minimum wage. The crisis has pushed state lawmakers to encourage more housing production and curb increases through rent control.
A statewide rent cap went into effect Jan. 1, limiting increases to 5% annually plus inflation up to 10%. During the coronavirus pandemic, the state judicial council and more than 100 municipalities have passed moratoriums on evictions, recognizing both the high cost of housing, faltering incomes and the millions of Californians who remain unemployed.
The coalition’s study uses the rule-of-thumb standard that workers should spend no more than 30% of their incomes on housing, to allow a budget for household, family and medical expenses.
To afford rent for a median-priced two-bedroom unit in the Bay Area, a worker needs to make $43 an hour in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, $57 an hour in Santa Clara County, and $64 an hour in San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo counties, according to the analysis.
The cheapest spots in the Bay Area for hourly workers remain Sonoma County ($37 an hour), Napa County ($36 an hour) and Solano County ($30 an hour).
A minimum wage worker in the state needs to clock 114 hours per week — roughly three full-time jobs — to afford the average twobedroom rent in California. Roughly 45% of state residents are renters.
Other California counties among the 10 most expensive in the nation include Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara and Orange.
Andrew Aurand, the report’s main author, said there’s a national need for more affordable housing. “Rental housing is not affordable to low wage workers anywhere,” Aurand said. “In some areas, it’s even worse, like San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland.”
Fishman said the pandemic has made it clear that more funding and fundamental policy change are needed to create more affordable housing across the state. “In COVID-19, we know that people need housing in order to be healthy and stay healthy,” she said.
Ben May, a longtime Oakland resident, has seen the pressures high housing costs have brought on his friends, neighbors and community. May, 65, bought his home about 30 years ago, but could not afford the neighborhood today.
May has watched housing prices rise in East Oakland and leave longtime residents spending up to 70% of their incomes on rent. “There’s nothing left to save,” said May, a housing and union activist. “Before the pandemic, it was hard.”
Now, the economic slowdown has put mounting pressure on service workers and others who have lost jobs during the pandemic, he said. With no income and little savings, he said, many simply can’t pay their bills and need relief from landlords and the state. “You can’t get blood from a rock.”