Minimum Wage Workers Need Two Jobs to Make Illinois Rent

Illinois residents earning minimum wage need to work 82 hours a week to afford rent on a two-bedroom rental home, according to a recent report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

The NLIHC publishes a report called "Out of Reach" each year showing how many hours a week a resident working at the local minimum wage would need to work to afford typically priced rental housing. Numbers are available statewide and for the metro-east.

"Not surprisingly, every year it shows that particularly for houses with the lowest incomes, there's a very large and severe gap between how much rental housing costs and what many people are earning," Bob Palmer, policy director at Housing Action Illinois, said in an interview with the BND.

Housing Action Illinois is the NLIHC's state partner for the Land of Lincoln and co-releases the annual report.

Housing Affordability in St. Clair County

Here's the minimum hourly wage needed to afford a two-bedroom rental home in a few metro-east ZIP codes, assuming a 40-hour weekly work schedule:

62220: $21.35 housing wage

62226: $20.38

62260: $23.08

62243: $23.85

62285: $18.85

62221: $23.27

62225: $34.81

The NLIHC's "housing wages" are calculated using the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Fair Market Rents, which are also available by ZIP code.

The 62220 Belleville area has a fair market rent of $928 for an "efficiency" apartment, or studio, $972 for a one-bedroom, $1,209 for a two-bedroom, $1,565 for a three-bedroom and $1,818 for a four-bedroom, according to the federal agency.

The long-standing general guideline for housing affordability is that people should spend no more than 30 percent of their gross income on rent or mortgage payments, but for people who make minimum wage or can't secure at least 40 hours of work each week, many Illinois cities may not have enough low-cost housing.

Generally, housing vouchers are designed to compensate for the lack of affordable housing for people making low incomes, but even for those who qualify, it can be hard to secure them.

"The resources that are available are being used and are limited," Palmer said.

In 2023, the St. Clair County Housing Authority received 961 applications for the voucher waitlists, and 436 of the applications were approved, with 351 issued.

Not everyone who is approved for a voucher will receive one, typically, because many housing authorities don't have enough funding for vouchers to meet the demand. Because housing costs have outpaced minimum wages, it costs more to subsidize vouchers each year, Palmer continued.

While many COVID-19 era rental assistance programs have exhausted their funds in Illinois, the state has committed $75 million in funding for the court-based rental assistance program, which aims to help renters avoid eviction.

The state's rental assistance program stopped accepting applications in May, the Chicago Tribune reports, and the newly funded program is expected to begin sometime after Labor Day.

For Illinois residents who hope to purchase a home soon, the state offers assistance programs for down payments and closing costs.


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