Hawaii once again has the most expensive rental housing in the nation.
That's according to a study just released by the National Low income Housing Coalition.
This is the third year in a row Hawaii has topped the list, above the District of Columbia, California and Maryland.
What's the price of paradise?
Apparently, it's $1,616 per month for a two-bedroom apartment.
Doran Porter is the Executive Director of the Affordable Housing and Homeless Alliance -- the local representative for the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
According to the study, these are the average residential rent prices in Hawaii:
One bedroom: $1,339
Two bedroom: $1,616
Three bedroom: $2,308
It's a steep price to pay considering the average wage for a renter is $13.65 an hour -- which works out to just over $28,000 a year.
"And this just points out more that people really need to work harder, they have to have more people in the family employed in order to afford the rent," said Porter.
In fact, this is the minimum amount of money your household should earn in order to live comfortably.
One bedroom: $53,551
Two bedroom: $64,651
Three bedroom: $92,302
"What the government says is you should never spend more than 30% of your income on housing, and that's the national standard. Of course in Hawaii most of us, myself included, we're more up like 50, 60, 70% of our salaries go towards rent," said Porter.
The study also points out that since 2000, rental housing rates in Hawaii have almost doubled!
Specifically, they've spiked 94%!
Renters aren't left with too many options.
"Basically public housing is full and has been for years. If you want to get into one of these public housing units you're looking at about 10 years down the road," said Porter.
That's why Porter's non-profit group, which helps the homeless, has seen its clientele quadruple in the past three years.
So, what's the solution?
"Well for Hawaii, we definitely need more housing. If you had more stock the rents would come down," said Porter.
As for the other end of the spectrum, the cheapest rentals are in Puerto Rico, West Virginia, North Dakota, and Arkansas.
