Another grim report about the housing crisis emerged this week — this one stating renters living in Santa Clara County need to earn $54.81 per hour — nearly four times the minimum wage — to earn the median monthly asking rent of $2,850.
“Santa Clara County needs 58,583 more affordable rental homes to meet current demand,” according to the report from the California Housing Partnership Association, an affordable housing nonprofit.
The report adds the county’s lowest-income renters — households earning half of the median income or less — spend 62-percent of their income on rent, “leaving little left for food, transportation, health care, and other essentials.”
Meanwhile, middle-income households spend 28-percent on rent.
The report recommended a number of steps the state and county can attempt to increase the affordable housing stock. They include boosting state funding, requiring a certain percentage of affordable housing for future developments, and incentivizing accessory dwelling units or other clever measures to create privately owned, unregulated affordable housing.