The National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio released a report today revealing that most Ohio jobs don’t pay enough to cover the cost of rent.
Ohio’s “housing wage” — the hourly wage a renter needs to earn to pay for a basic, two-bedroom unit — increased again this year to $15.25, with our minimum wage currently sitting at $8.30.
The average renter in Ohio earns $13.32 an hour, nearly $2 less than the hourly wage needed to afford a modest two-bedroom rental unit.
Workers earning minimum wage would have to work 74 hours per week throughout the year to afford a two-bedroom apartment.
When looking at the most common jobs for Ohioans, only two of the 10 offer a livable wage for employers.
The eight failing common means of employment like food preparation ($9.40), retail salesperson ($10.41), cashiers ($9.33), laborers and freight movers ($12.66), waiters ($9.45), office clerks ($14.42), janitors ($11.59) and stock clerks ($11.65) fall below what is necessary for someone to afford a modest two bedroom apartment.
Only registered nurses ($30.59) and customer-service representatives ($15.34) offer a housing wage, and customer-service representatives barely make the cut.
Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, said in a press release that low wage workers often have to choose between paying for rent, health care, childcare, and other basic necessities.
“The administration’s cruel and shortsighted proposals to cut housing benefits would add to the struggles of millions. Rather than threatening the housing stability of families struggling to keep roofs over their heads, Congress must invest in expanding housing solutions that provide stable homes for the lowest income people in our country,” she said.
The report reveals that 41 percent of Cuyahoga County residents are renters, and the housing wage needed is less than the state’s average at $15.10. Luckily, the average wage of a renter in Cuyahoga County is $15.38, further promoting Cleveland as “a very affordable, decent place to live.”
However, it’s important to note that this study is looking at the state and counties on an average level. Cleveland is a big city for those working in the medical field and those higher paying nursing jobs are going to skew the county’s average higher in comparison to someone working as a line cook.
Consider the following: Cleveland Clinic is a global juggernaut when it comes to healthcare, but the surrounding neighborhoods have been ravished by poverty. It’s difficult to praise Cleveland for its affordability when there are an average of 12 evictions every single day and an enormous waiting list for housing vouchers through CMHA.
After 40 years, the Cleveland Tenants association folded due to a lack of funding, leaving low-income renters without an organization specifically working to educate tenants and landlords, empower the community, and advocate for affordable, fair, and quality rental housing.
Cleveland is currently undergoing a wave of new housing opportunities, many of which are geared as luxury living. While these city developments are targeting new medical and corporate professionals moving to the area, Cleveland residents are still struggling to find affordable housing. In 2016, 48 percent of Cleveland renters were cost burdened.
As Cleveland continues to dig out of the housing crisis, it’s important not just to look at the numbers from reports like the one from The National Low Income Housing Coalition, but also analyze and challenge the reasons why the numbers are what they are.
No one working a full time job should ever feel at risk of not being able to pay rent.
This article appears in Jun 13-19, 2018.
I remember being appalled at the wages offered for most of the jobs in the PeeDee when I moved here in ’92. Six, seven, eight bucks an hour. Mostly widget-making assembly line gigs. Ten years later? The SAME job listings, at the SAME pay. Ridiculous. Pathetic. Nauseating.
Apparently, nothing much has changed in the past fifteen years. Most of those widget-making jobs are now in Mexico or China. The pay being offered for what crumbs are left in Ahia doesn’t even come close to keeping up with inflation or the cost of living. And the minimum wage ($8.30) is a sick joke. Leading to struggle and poverty and debt. Oh-H-I-owe. The H stands for HELL.
An excellent argument presented by Grizz65. But I would like to assess the arguement presented by the article itself.
The arguement is that 8 of 10 of the most common jobs earn less than the renting wage for a two bed room apartment. Id like to address two issues with the thesis. First, being just because a job is common does not mean it effects a lot of people (after all there are a lot of different jobs out there). Secondly, a two bedroom apartment is unnessary to use as the standard for a renting wage.
The most common occupations in Cuyahoga County mirror the most common occupations nationally. These 8 occupations in question take care of about 16% of employment. So this issue is 16% of the EMPLOYED population. 2017 Cuyahoga County population is 1,250,000. With 63% participation in the work force (nationally) and 5% unemployment. Employed population of Cuyahoga County would be about 750,000 based on national averages. 16% of 750,000 employed people = 120,000 jobs that do not pay renting wage. Or 1% of people in Cuyahoga County.
The next issue is a two bed room apartment. If you have a two bed room… get a roommate! And cut that renting wage in half. And through the magic of division you have more than enough for half of the renting wage with our minimum wage. Which as previously mentioned our minimum wage is a sick joke, when you consider that because it is 8.20 creates less oppertunties for the least skilled workers.
Since I mentioned least skilled workers lets look at the 8 jobs that dont pay enough for you to have a spare bedroom and the education required.
Food prep- No HS
Retail sales- No HS
Cashiers – no HS
Laborers and freight movers – no HS
Waiters – no HS
Office clerks – Hs diploma (some college)
Janitors – no HS
Stock clerks – no HS
Only one job has any educational requirement. I think we should take a step back and look at this article as hey kids stay in school.
Now if you find yourself looking for a better opportunity, dont want to go into debt in college, and live above the median county renter income. Pick up a trade, carpenter, construction laborer, starting tomorrow will put you above the median income for renters in the county and you earn benefits on top of the base income.
So if your working a full time job and struggling with rent. Have a friend move in and cut your expenses in half (and double your apartments income) and consider finding a better job, maybe with more education, or join a trade.
You seem to be assuming that everyone in a two-bedroom apartment is a single person who can’t pay the rent on it. You are ignoring the obvious…many of those renters are married couples, single parents with kids, or two parents with one or more children, some of whom may be teens or even older.
So your cry of “Get a roommate!” is similar to the snarks of those frat-boy asshats who yell “Get a job!” at the homeless on the street. And concluding with “Consider finding a better job, maybe with more education, or ‘join'(?) a trade” further indicates that you are quite divorced from reality.
And all those jobs you listed require at least a GED or a HS diploma. The days of finding a decent job with a grammar-school education are gone forever, over a long time ago. Oh, yeah. Like maybe when Ike was on the golf course instead of His Orangeness. And do you know how hard it is to get into the trades now?
You need to educate yourself…especially about the realities of Cleveland. It might be better elsewhere, but unless you’re a corporate drone or a professional or a medical-field Millenial, life for most folks in this city is as tough now as it was 25 years ago. Probably tougher. But, hey, thanks for all the keystrokes.
Those1920s apartment buildings are magnificent. Gorgeous front porches that are enormous. Where was that image taken? East Boulevard? Euclid Heights Boulevard? There seem to be more of these types of rentals on the East Side than on the West Side.
At least, here in Cleveland, they are still mostly intact and habitable. Detroit once had whole neighborhoods of this type of architecture, but most of the buildings no longer exist. Those still standing are abandoned and crumbling, burned-out shells open to the sky, and looking like Berlin in 1945. Except for East Cleveland, we are still quite lucky to have such palaces available. If you can afford them at all.
Grizz, I think were getting on the same page here. Im not assuming that everyone is single. What Im saying is the arguement the author made that a renting wage was unobtainable for some common professions is simply not the case. Especially if, as you mentioned, there maybe more than one income producer in the household (married couple). I believe that the renting wage calculation used by the author is artificially high. And if the author can show how they came up with with that wage, Id be excited because Im a nerd.
Now you also mentioned things havent gotten much better since you moved here. That maybe the case as wages (especially this millennium) have failed to out grow inflation so things are tough out there. And Im not saying making a renting wage or even $1 or $2 above a renting wage means you live on easy street. If your a single parent, making $15/hr or less Good luck and gods speed, because that would be a very difficult life to maintain.
Tbh, I looked up education requirements for some of these jobs, and I was surprised as to how many list a hs diploma as a requirement (about a third). The reason being, companies want to hire someone who graduated because it proves you can put up with some bs and not quit immediately. Its called a sign post in the labor market. The trades have an online application, and you have to pass a drug test. Id say its extremley tough find a high paying job for someone who dropped out of high school. But if you are persistent in applying, look professional, and put your best foot forward you can find a job. There are currently as many job openings as unemployed workers in this country.
Now Id like to agree with the authors point of new housing coming in at the top of the market. How many of these corporate drones, professionals, millennial health care workers really want to put out $1000-2000/ mo. For rent. The point of having those high paying jobs is to save money and build wealth right? The only hope is that the influx of units drives prices down, supply and demand. But I dont think thats going to happen, there are not too many landlords out there looking to lower rent anytime soon.
So for the time being, lets keep these housing support programs going. Stay in school kids, because it matters to have that signpost. Lets see if we can come up with some community education, about how to get and keep a job, how to build wealth without increasing buying power year over year (wages not outpacing inflation), about how to budget so you are not 3 months behind on rent, and getting evicted. That way we can be proud of the fact we are an affordable city to live in.
I’m not ignoring you, but it’s a perfect day to work in the yard…breezy, warm temps, low humidity.
So after I’m done outside and have time to read your latest post, I will be back.
To some kid who’ll drop a couple of hundred for a meal and spend even more for drinks and entertainment at some bar or club, or to go to a concert, paying a grand or two for rent is normal. Yes, NORMAL. Why? Because, these kids are making 75 K or more right out of school. Not high school…grad school…or at least four years of college. A lot of the folks who rent these apartments are making six-figure salaries.
They are happy to pay a grand or two a month, because that is NOTHING compared to other cities, especially the bigger ones that draw all the college grads. They can even put money aside to pay off their enormous student-loan debts. I was so damn lucky. When I went to a state school, tuition was only a couple hundred bucks. You can’t even buy weed that cheap anymore.
You won’t get anything fancy for a grand a month in the town I came here from, Chicago. And you won’t find anything at all at those rates in New York, or even in Brooklyn, which has become the cool place to live. D.C. or L.A. or Seattle? Forget about it!
As for towns like San Francisco or Boston, rents are even higher. The average rent in S.F. is well over 3 Gs a month, if you can even find a place. Many people have to commute two hours each way to jobs in the city. My niece shares a two-bedroom condo in Berkeley for less than 3G’s a month, and she can walk to her job in the labs. She is amazingly lucky. Everyone tells her so.
I read your post a couple of times, and all I can say is that you are out of touch with reality when it comes to finding affordable housing, or landing decent jobs that pay living wages and allow one to save for the future. I’d be curious to know where you live and what you do. Either you are retired and out of the ballgame, or else you’re making big bucks and haven’t looked for work for years. And you probably own your own home. All that job-search advice may be well and good, but free advice don’t feed the bulldog…or pay the rent.
Grizzo65. Try harder. We in the trades are having a hard time filling positions. Apparently you’re not trying hard enough.
Apprenticeships and training programs have an upper age limit, right? I am well past it, whatever it is. Maybe my son or grandson would qualify, if I had one.
Whatever became of PIANO? It stood for Printing Industry Association of Northeast Ohio, if I remember correctly. About twenty years ago, I wanted to learn enough to be able to apply for a good job in a print shop. Those were skills I really wanted to learn. The idea of becoming a printer (hopefully a union printer) really appealed to me.
There were several things wrong with my plan, as I soon found out. PIANO had closed up and gone away. No more programs and apprenticeships, or even internships. I was already too old to qualify for any of the few programs that still existed. And the worst finding of all was that the printing industry had, for the most part, left Cleveland…for places like Philly, and other towns in the East.
So where did I end up? Making minimum wage…in a bakery. Was I pissed? Damn betcha!