If you want to rent a 2 bedroom apartment in the City of Madison and only pay the HUD recommended 30% of your income towards rent, you would need to make $14.46 per hour, or have a roommate and you would each have to work full-time making at least $7.23. That is the finding based on the recent "Out of Reach" study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

It's a good thing our minimum wage is now $5.70, but that isn't enough. Look at the kind of wages we need to support an affordable place to live:

Efficiency ($510)
69 hours at minimum wage or 1.7 jobs
40 hours a week at $9.81 for an annual income of $20,400
Week of 12/11/2005 there were 18 units below $510

One Bedroom ($636)
86 hours at minimum wage or 2.1 jobs
40 hours a week at $12.23 for an annual income of $25,440
Week of 12/11/2005 there were 63 units below $636

Two bedroom ($752)
101 hours at minimum wage or 2.5 jobs
40 hours a week at $14.46 for an annual income of $30,080
Week of 12/11/2005 there were 96 units below $752

Three bedroom ($1,009)
136 hours at minimum wage or 3.4 jobs
40 hours a week at $19.40 for an annual income for $40,360
Week of 12/11/2005 there were 42 units available below $1009

43% of renters would be unable to afford that two bedroom apartment, because they are making only an average of $10.81.

The Capital Times wrote an article where Nancy Jensen, Executive Director of the Apartment Association of Southcentral Wisconsin says that there are "many" landlords renting below the average rents in the study.

Time for a gut check. Have you seen this plethora of affordable housing in our community? Or do we need more affordable housing?