Rent too high, pay too low in Pike, Monroe

When the chips are down, it's not easy to live in Pike and Monroe counties, where the rent is higher and pay is lower than state averages.

A survey by the National Low Income Housing Coalition shows that half of renters in Pike and Monroe cannot afford a two-bedroom rental.
MAKING IT WORK

Average rent, 2 BR

$842/month- Penna.

$978/month- Pike Co.

$913/month- Monroe Co.

Average wage

$13.24/hour- Penna.

$8.43/hour- Pike Co.

$10.29/hour- Monroe Co.

Wage needed

$16.19/hour- Penna.

$18.81/hour- Pike Co.

$17.56/hour- Monroe Co.

Renters who dedicate more than 30 percent of wages to housing are struggling at best and, at worst, are at risk for homelessness. Heat, food, transportation and other necessities claim too much income, forcing them to fall a little more behind each month.

In Pike, the fair-market rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $978, including utilities. To afford this without paying more than 30 percent of income on housing, a household must earn $39,120 annually.

Assuming a 40-hour work week, that works out to an hourly wage of $18.81. But in Pike, the estimated average wage for a renter is $8.43 an hour. At that rate, a renter must work 89 hours per week, 52 weeks per year. Or, working 40 hours per week, a household must include 2.2 workers to make a two-bedroom home at fair market rent affordable.

The story is only slightly better in Monroe, where the fair-market rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $913 with utilities. A household needs to earn $36,520 annually to afford it.

Assuming a 40-hour work week, that is $17.56 an hour. In Monroe, the estimated average renter wage is just $10.29 an hour, according to the coalition.

"In Monroe, there isn't work that matches the rent, and I don't think you are ever going to find that, as long as people commute to New York and New Jersey for work," said Raymond Guernsey, executive director of the Redevelopment Authority of the County of Monroe. "Even with downturn in the economy, it hasn't translated into downward pressure on rents."

In Pennsylvania, the fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $842. It would take $33,681, or $16.19 an hour, to afford that. The estimated average wage for a renter is $13.24 an hour.

Many people may be good candidates for federally subsidized housing, such as senior housing or low-income apartments. However, getting into federally subsidized housing is painfully competitive.

The Section 8 housing choice voucher program provides all or part of the rent for low-income renters. To get the voucher, you have to apply to get on the list.

"Pike is one of the few counties accepting applications. If you came in today to get an appointment, you won't get an appointment to fill out an application for about a year," Wayne/Pike Housing Authority Executive Director Joseph Kohut said. Pike has some 300 vouchers in use.

Because vouchers are funded with federal money, they are portable. Users can, and often do, leave Pike County with the voucher.

It is that portability that causes an affordable housing shortage in the Poconos Guernsey said.

"The problem we have in Monroe is when we build affordable housing with federal money, they come from New York, New Jersey and Maryland," Guernsey said.

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Just more interesting news about Monroe/Pike housing. And yet everyone is trying to build "upper income"... sad