New study finds it takes nearly 5 people to afford apartment in Atlanta
ATLANTA - With rent prices causing headaches for many Georgians, a new report shows just how much it can cost to live in Atlanta.
An analysis from the real estate company Zillow finds that it would take nearly five people working minimum wage to afford the rent on a typical two-bedroom apartment in the Peach State's capital city.
One-bedroom apartments aren't much cheaper, with it taking 4.3 full-time jobs to afford on in Atlanta, Zillow found.
Those results are higher than the national average of four people.
In all, Zillow found that the cost for the average one-bedroom apartment in Atlanta was $1,501 a month, and the typical two-bedroom rental costs $1,664 a month.
In their research into the 50 largest U.S. cities, Zillow found that only 10 allowed two full-time workers to comfortably afford a two-bedroom apartment on minimal wage. The analysis found that cities with higher minimum wages fared better even if the rent was higher-than-average. Of those 10 cities, all of them had a minimum wage of at least $10 an hour.
"This is perhaps the only context in which San Francisco is more affordable than San Antonio," said Zillow senior economist Nicole Bachaud. "Renters have been squeezed by record-fast rent growth while incomes haven’t kept up. That’s true for those making minimum wage, but especially so where the minimum wage hasn’t budged for more than a decade. Clearing the path for more construction, especially at entry-level prices, is needed to make housing more affordable across the board."
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Atlanta's minimum wage is the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour, and Zillow says affordability is likely going to be even tighter in the coming months when the real estate market gets higher in demand for the city.