It Takes $24 Per Hour to Rent NH Apartment

New data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition found that a NH renter would have to earn $24 an hour to afford a modest apartment.

That puts NH 13th highest among states in "housing wage," or how much a renter must to earn to afford a two-bedroom apartment, according to the report.

At the state’s current minimum wage of $7.25, the report finds that a renter in NH would have to work 136 hours a week to afford the same apartment.

NH’s neighbor, Vermont, ranks 16th, requiring a wage of $23.68 per hour to afford comparable housing, while Maine ranks 24th. Massachusetts has the third highest wage required at $36.24 an hour.

A state specific report with additional information on rental housing was also released Thursday by the NH Housing Authority, illustrating that rental prices have risen while vacancies have dropped dramatically.

In 2021, a typical two-bedroom unit rented for $1,489, the survey found. By county, typical prices were as low as $879 in Coos County and as high as $1,643 in Hillsborough County.

This represents a significant increase in rental prices over the past five years. In Grafton County, for example, the cost of rental units increased nearly 30 percent compared to 2016. The report attributes high cost of rentals in Grafton County to Lebanon and Hanover. Rents in Strafford and Hillsborough counties weren’t far behind, increasing by 28.7 percent and 28.6 percent, respectively.

The vacancy rate – or percentage of available units – is low, at .9 percent. That rate has gone down since last year.  And it’s much lower than the 5 percent vacancy rate that “is considered a balanced market for tenants and landlords,” according to the report. The vacancy rate for two-bedroom apartments is even lower, at .6 percent.

The report finds that both across the country and in the northeast, the vacancy rate is 6.8%, which means NH’s housing market is particularly challenging for renters in comparison.

The data aligns with anecdotes about the difficulty of securing affordable housing. These findings come as local communities are grappling to address the shortage of affordable housing.

Hanover is among them, and housing was a main topic in the town meeting. A measure to increase the number of unrelated occupants allowed in a unit failed in a 594-1,088 vote. 

College students – who have been struggling with a lack of affordable housing – had pushed the measure. Pro-student candidate David Millman, who ran in part on a housing platform, lost his bid for select board.

This story is courtesy of NH Bulletin under creative commons license.