In Bucks County, renters must earn $34.65 an hour to comfortably afford a two-bedroom apartment, more than double the average renter’s wage of $16.53 an hour, writes Chris Ullery for the Bucks County Courier Times.
The 2025 Out of Reach Report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics to highlight the gap between gross rent and the hourly wage needed to afford housing on a 40-hour work week.
The report found that in Pennsylvania, where the average fair-market rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $1,447 a month, a renter would need to earn $27.83 an hour for that to be considered affordable—meaning no more than 30 percent of their income. That puts Bucks County well above the state average.
Bucks County has a fair market rent of $1,512 a month for a two-bedroom apartment. With the average renter earning $16.53 an hour, which is the 22nd highest renter wage in the state, a person would need to be working 2.1 full-time jobs to afford that rent.
Read more about the steep income gap Bucks County renters face and what it means for housing affordability in the region in the Bucks County Courier Times.
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