A modest, two-bedroom apartment costs $1,099, according to the annual Out of Reach report from the National Low-Income Housing Coalition. In order to afford this level of rent and utilities — without paying more than 30% of income on housing — a household must earn an hourly “housing wage” of $21.13—far more than Vermont’s minimum wage of $9.60 or the average wage among the state’s renters ($11.79).
High rents put Vermont’s housing wage far above average wage or minimum wage