Analysis finds that Indiana’s housing affordability gap is growing

The housing affordability gap for Indiana’s minimum wage workers grew according to the latest& “Out of Reach” report, finding that those Hoosiers would need to work 122 hours per week to afford a Fair Market Rate two-bedroom apartment.& “The new Out of Reach 2024 report finds that Indiana’s 2024 Housing Wage of $22.07 needed to afford a two-bedroom rental unit is an increase of $3.07 per hour above the 2023 Housing Wage. However, the average Hoosier renter’s wage of $17.92 per hour in 2024 increased by only $0.06 over the past year,” said Aspen Clemons, executive director at Prosperity Indiana. “To address Indiana’s growing housing affordability crisis, state and local policymakers must bridge the growing gap between rents and incomes by using all available policy tools.” In order to afford that unit, valued at the Fair Market Rate of $1,148, a full-time Hoosier working only 40 hours a week would need a& “Housing Wage” of $22.07& — far above the state’s minimum wage of $7.25 and above the average renter’s wage. The findings, from an annual report jointly published by the National Low Income Housing Coalition and Prosperity Indiana, included data on all 50 states and concluded that Indiana had...