LANSING, Mich. – A new report finds minimum wage earners in Michigan need to work the equivalent of nearly two full-time jobs to have enough money to pay for a two-bedroom apartment.

The annual "Out of Reach" report shows the wage needed to afford a modest and safe rental home without spending more than 30 percent of income on housing costs in Michigan is $16.85 per hour.

But the average renter earns just $14.27 per hour.

Jessica AcMoody, senior policy specialist with the Community Economic Development Association of Michigan, contends the gap is due to low wages and inadequate investment into affordable housing.

"We're really hoping that the Legislature takes a look at what's going on in Michigan and the problem of affordable housing,” she states. “You're seeing this across both rural and urban areas, so it's affecting everyone across the board."

According to the findings from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Michigan households must have monthly earnings of about $2,800 in order to afford Fair Market Rent, which is $844 for a two-bedroom apartment and $661 dollars for a one-bedroom apartment.

AcMoody notes there are federal programs to help struggling Americans afford housing, including the National Housing Trust Fund, which provides block grants for the creation or rehabilitation of homes, and the Housing Choice Voucher Program for very low-income families.

"The problem is these programs have been underfunded for years, and so we're not seeing the resources go to them that need to be,” AcMoody states. “And actually, only one of four households in need of rental assistance receives any due to chronic underfunding."

Michigan's Housing and Community Development Fund was developed as a general appropriation in 2008 to help low-income people and families afford housing.

But AcMoody says it was cut after one year.

"We were able to secure $3.7 million from the Homeowner Protection Fund in 2012,” she adds. “Unfortunately only nine projects out of the 65 submitted received funding due to the limited resources."

AcMoody contends Michigan needs a larger, more secure funding source for affordable housing, such as a housing trust fund.

There are 58 housing trusts funds in place in 47 states and Washington, D.C., which are typically funded by a real estate transfer tax.

Michigan is ranked 28th in the U.S. for the highest housing wage.


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Native Americans in Montana face a slew of challenges to finding housing off reservations - including discrimination. A tight housing market in the state and across the country presents its own problems for finding an affordable place to live.

But Les Left Hand, program director for All Nation Youth Partner for Success in Billings, said his last name was a barrier for him and his wife when they were looking for a home, and added eventually they used her maiden name on applications.

"When she applied for some of these places as just 'Leslie Martin' they were more open to that until they saw my name on there." he said. "Then that's when the red flags were waved and, of course, some of them were just outright not willing to talk to us."

Left Hand's organization works to prevent drug use among young people ages nine to 20 and he said people they work with, as well as his friends and family, have similar experiences. Rental costs like security deposits and first and last months' rent can be challenges as well. Census data finds more than a quarter of Native Americans live in poverty.

Left Hand said young people especially find it hard to move off their reservations because they are not as financially established.

"It's frustrating for them and that's when they give up and go back home and have to live in a tight, cramped household again because we don't really turn away any of the family members that do come back," Left Hand said. "We just accommodate until they can find a better resource or a different avenue."

Analyses on housing issues for Native Americans are scarce but a study from before the pandemic found 16% of Native Americans reported overcrowding, compared with 2% of the U.S. population as a whole.

Left Hand said organizations like the Native American Development Corporation can help people who feel they have been discriminated against, or are having trouble looking for housing. Most of all, he encourages people to be persistent.

"I'm always willing to help people out and try to steer them in the right direction and then just give them the hope that there is somebody out there that might have an opportunity to open a door and then they succeed in that area," he said. "But then like I tell them, don't give up so easily."

About $3-million has been awarded to Virginia groups helping people facing evictions. The Virginia Eviction Reduction Pilot Program is designed to find effective services for people facing housing instability. According to the R-V-A Virginia Eviction Lab's third quarter report, eviction filings increased 86% from the previous quarter, with Charlottesville seeing some of the largest increases. Much of this is due to pandemic-related renter protections being lifted.

Christie Marra, director of housing advocacy with the Virginia Poverty Law Center, said while this third round of funding is a much-needed financial boost, it is not enough.

"The programs that are getting the funding now are not getting enough to meet the need in their area," Marra said. "And so, while the eviction rates for every locality that has a VERP-funded program serving it did go down, there is a lot of room for improvement."

She added that in the past, one of the groups that received funding went through it in two months. As the Virginia General Assembly's legislative session gets under way, tenant's rights legislation is one issue at the forefront of legislators' minds. One such piece of legislation, the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, seeks to increase the grace period for late rent, and would allow tenants to break leases when they move in and find a unit is uninhabitable.

While these grants are working to alleviate the eviction crisis, Marra hopes proposals for other tenant assistance programs will be taken up as well. One in particular is the Virginia Housing Stability Fund, which would be a state housing voucher program.

Marra acknowledged it won't come cheap, but said this program could aid numerous families.

"What we're asking for is for 90 million, and this would be a one-time ask for this pilot program to serve 5,000 households over the period of four years," she said.

In addition to gathering data, this program will also provide longer-term financial support than most VERP. The program hopes to bridge the gap between the shortage of affordable housing and the numerous Virginians who qualify for the federal housing voucher program, but can't receive it due to limited federal funding.

Kentucky is facing a serious housing shortage, and the past few years of deadly floods and tornadoes have worsened the situation.

Advocates want lawmakers to commit to more than $300 million Affordable Housing Emergency Action Recovery Trust Fund or "AHEART."

More than 800 eastern Kentucky residents remain temporarily housed in state parks and travel trailers after last summer's flooding.

Maggie Riden - Director of Advocacy for the group FAHE, which provides lending services in the Appalachian region - said the state has reached a housing tipping point.

"Kentucky, like many states in the Appalachian region, has an aging housing stock," said Riden. "Many homes were built well before the 1970s. So we're talking about homes that need substantial repair and upkeep."

She added that AHEART funding would be used to construct or rehab 1,500 new homes.

A report released last year by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation - commonly known as Freddie Mac - found that nationwide, communities are short more than 3 million housing housing units, up from 2.5 million in 2018.

Riden pointed out that the state is sitting on a substantial budget surplus and rainy day fund - and said using that money to build homes will lessen the pressure of future disasters, keeping more Kentucky families in safe, quality housing.

"So," said Riden, "how are we getting resources, state resources on the ground that are flexible, and are able to get folks out of temporary housing or shelter into at least intermediate housing and shelter, while we rebuild?"

Adrienne Bush - executive director of the Homeless and Housing Coalition of Kentucky - said climate change continues to put more communities on the frontlines of weather disasters, and says states need to boost local resources in order to respond immediately, noting the federal government's grant funding for disaster recovery isn't permanently authorized.

She added that emergency outside relief from FEMA only goes so far.

"FEMA is not designed to make people whole," said Bush. "It's not designed to completely replace everything that people lost in terms of their housing or their livelihood or any of their other needs. It is designed to produce the bare minimum in financial assistance."

Research shows a lack of affordable housing is bad for business. In the nation's top 100 metro areas, housing shortages are stalling economic growth.