Study shows how many hours you need to work to afford rent in Georgia

ATLANTA - While rent prices continue to spike all over the country, a new report is show just how much it can cost to live in the Peach State.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition, a group dedicated to ensure low-income Americans can live in quality affordable homes, recently release its 2022 "Out of Reach" report, a study that breaks down how many hours someone needs to work in order to afford a one or two-bedroom rented apartment in their state.

According to the report, Georgia residents need to make at least $20.97 an hour to be able to afford a two-bedroom rental home. That's an increase of $1.55 an hour from last year's calculations.

Working at the state's minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, that would mean they would need to work at least 2.9 full-time jobs and work 116 hours a week  - or more than 16 hours a day.

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For a one-bedroom home at the Fair Market Rent, Georgians would have to work 100 hours a week and 2.5 full-time minimum wage jobs.  

"In order to afford this level of rent and utilities — without paying more than 30% of income on housing — a household must earn $3,635 monthly or $43,618 annually," researchers wrote.

However, the average renter in Georgia earns slightly less than that with a wage of $20.48 an hour.

The report says the most expensive place to live in Georgia is the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell area, where the housing wage needed is nearly $4 more an hour compared to the state's average at $24.79. Savannah comes next, followed by Gainesville, Hinesville, and Warner Robins. 

Overall, Georgia is ranked as the 26th most-expensive state in the country based on the estimated fair-market cost for a two-bedroom rental home.

The top five most expensive states and territories were Hawaii, California, Massachusetts, New York, and Washington, D.C.

To read the NLIHC's full "Out of Reach" report, click here.