
Updated on June 9, 2017 at 4:54 PMPosted on June 9, 2017 at 10:07 AM
BY JEFF GOLDMAN
jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com,
NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
As expensive as it is to live in New Jersey, the cost to rent an apartment here isn’t close to being the priciest in the nation.
Renters in the Garden State — where the fair-market rate for a two-bedroom apartment is $1,420 per month — pay the seventh most in the country, according to a new report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Hawaii, Washington D.C. and California are the most expensive. Those three are followed by Maryland, New York and Massachusetts.
So while renting in New Jersey is cheaper than a handful of spots, it still requires more money than most make.
In a state where the minimum wage is $8.44 an hour and the average person makes $17.86 per hour, a New Jersey worker needs to be paid $27.31 an hour to reasonably afford a two-bedroom apartment. The report defines “afford” as spending no more than 30 percent of your gross income on rent.
That translates to an annual salary of $56,810 per year. To live in a one-bedroom apartment, you need to make $46,619 per year on average.