Renters not keeping up with rising cost of living

Cedar-Riverside apartments
The Cedar-Riverside apartments in Minneapolis.
MPR Photo/Chris Roberts

Minnesota ranks behind 30 other states when it comes to rental housing affordability. A study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition shows the average Minnesota renter makes $11 per hour.

Chip Halbach with the Minnesota Housing Partnership says that means renters need to work 52 hours a week, 52 weeks a year to afford an average-priced two-bedroom apartment.

Halbach says a Minnesota Housing Partnership study showed rent in Minnesota increased about 6 percent between 2000 and 2005, while the average income for renters when down by 15 percent.

Halbach says his organization will ask lawmakers during the next legislative session to look at ways to provide some relief for renters.

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