National Housing Conference report: Affordability crisis impacts workers across all income levels

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A construction worker operates a backhoe at a Durham construction site. (Photo: Greg Childress/NC Newsline)

Half of construction site workers in Asheville earn less than the $59,840 needed to rent a one-bedroom apartment and civil engineers earning nearly $100,000 a year find it difficult to afford a home in the city, according to a recent report by the National Housing Conference titled “Priced Out: When a good job isn’t enough.”

The report examines the nationwide housing affordability crisis impacting workers across all income levels. The authors cite “decades of underbuilding, rising interest rates, and wage stagnation” for pushing homeownership and rental housing further out of reach for many workers. It used its Paycheck to Paycheck database to track affordability changes in 390 metropolitan statistical areas from 2019 to 2024. The authors shared case studies from Asheville, Boise, Idaho, Houston, Tampa, Florida and Seattle.

“These findings underscore the depth and breadth of the housing crisis, which is increasingly pricing out working families across the country—regardless of geography or profession,” said David M. Dworkin, president and CEO of the National Housing Conference. “The housing affordability crisis is now hitting families in every metro area, for nearly every occupation.”

Here are findings from the other four case studies:

• Boise, Idaho: Home prices increased by over 60% in just five years. A middle school staff saw teachers, librarians, and counselors priced out of two-bedroom rental units by 2023, with librarians still unable to afford rent in 2024.

• Houston: Despite high rates of homebuilding, only 28 of 286 occupations can afford to purchase a home with 10% down in 2024. Order Clerks and Customer Service Representatives cannot afford even a one-bedroom rental.

• Seattle: Not a single occupation tracked could afford to buy a home in 2024, including Dentists earning over $200,000. Only 50 out of 285 occupations can afford a two-bedroom rental.

• Tampa, Florida: Only 11 of 284 occupations can afford to buy a home. Legal Assistants, earning $62,420, cannot afford rent for a one-bedroom apartment.

“This is no longer a problem we can frame as affecting only certain groups or regions. From big cities to small towns, Americans who work hard, earn solid incomes, and contribute to their communities are finding that neither renting nor buying is within reach,” Dworkin said. “If we don’t address the supply shortage, reform zoning, and invest in housing at all income levels, we are facing a fundamental threat to the health and sustainability of our economy.”

The study found that beginning with a notable spike from 2019-2020, fairly-priced rents for one-bedroom apartments in Asheville increased 30% and 26% for two bedroom apartment. The $59,840 needed to afford a one-bedroom apartment in the city in 2024 represented a nearly $28,000 increase over the salary needed to do so in 2019. The $67,200 annual salary needed to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Asheville is a $27,000 increase from 2019 costs.

A typical construction site has about 13 occupations ranging from architectural and civil drafters and architectural and engineering managers to helpers for electricians, carpenters and plumbers, according to the report.

In 2019, three  — construction laborers, electrician helpers and roofer — of the 13 occupations in Asheville could not afford to rent a one-bedroom apartment, according to the report. By 2024, the authors found that five additional occupations earned less than the $59,840 to needed to afford a one-bedroom apartment in the city.

Across  269 occupations tracked in Asheville in 2024, only 66 could afford to rent a two-bedroom apartment. Fewer than half could — 97 — could afford to rent a one-bedroom apartment.

Meanwhile, to afford a typical home in the Asheville metropolitan statistical area, the authors found a buyer needed more than double the income necessary five years ago. With a 10% downpayment, a buyer needed to earn $70,678 in 2019. By 2024, a buyer needed to earn $143,507 a year to purchase the same home.

Of the 390 metropolitan statistical areas sampled, 176 require a six-figure salary to purchase a home with only 10% down. One-hundred and fifty of them are outside of California, a state where home prices are typically higher and 64 are in non coastal communities. Another 150 metropolitan statistical areas require incomes between $75,000 and $99,999 to purchase a home. In 2019 only 30 of those metropolitan statistical areas required a six-figure income to purchase a home with a 10% downpayment and 43 required income between $75,000 and $99,999.

“In five short years homeownership became unattainable for thousands of combinations of MSAs [metropolitan statistical areas] and occupations from insurance sales agents in Akron, Ohio, to electrical power line Installers and repairers in Worcester, Massachusetts,” the authors wrote. “Renting a modest two-bedroom apartment became unaffordable for many others, including public safety telecommunicators in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and news analysts, reporters, and journalists in Wichita, Kansas.”  

Here are more findings from the report:

• Homeownership Costs Have Surged: In 125 MSAs, the income needed to purchase has doubled or more since 2019.

• Renting Is Increasingly Unaffordable: Nearly half (47%) of tracked occupations cannot afford a two-bedroom apartment, compared to 38% in 2019. In 32 MSAs, the salary needed to comfortably rent exceeds $75,000.

• Wages Lag Far Behind Costs: Even traditionally high-earning professionals are losing housing access. In Seattle, dentists cannot afford to buy a typically priced home; in Asheville, civil engineers are priced out despite earning nearly $100,000.