Hiring in Santa Cruz, California, now requires a suffocating income of over $ 168,000, just to hire a two-bedroom, figure that makes it the most unavailable market in the country for the third consecutive year.
In the area of Santa Cruz, located on the central coast, about 75 miles south of San Francisco, the hourly wage required to allow a modest one -bedroom, increased from $ 63.33 in 2023.
This is nearly 30% since 2023, when they were first placed at the top of the list.
This means that now a tenant has to earn $ 168,920 a year in order to be able to afford a modest two -bedroom at the Fair Market Rent in the metro area, it is displayed in the report. This would be a maximum of $ 4223 a month to remain less than 30% of their gross income. In California, where the minimum wage is $ 16.50, this is the equivalent of working 4.9 full -time jobs.
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Visitors pack the beach in front of the pedestrian walkway of Santa Cruz Beach in Santa Cruz, California, on a summer day. The coastal city is ranked in the least accessible lease market in the United States, according to the report of the National Housing Coalition with low incomes since 2025.
The report finds that the typical tenant is not approaching. Santa Cruz’s average tenant wins $ 22.13 per hour. This pace will require about 3.7 full -time jobs to afford an apartment.
“This is # 1 we don’t want to be,” says Elaine Johnson, CEO of Housing Santa Cruz County to Santa Cruz Sentinel. “This is a time of all hands of deck for all participating.”
The California state dominates the accessibility ranking, according to the Outside Reac report. Golden State is home to eight of the ten most expensive metro areas, including San Jose, San Francisco, Salinas and Santa Barbara. Throughout the country, the average housing for an apartment with two bedrooms is nearly $ 50 per hour, which is the highest of any country in the United States.
The long -standing and “catastrophically elevated” railway project of California
The coastline overlooking the harbor near the beach on Santa Cruz Beach in Santa Cruz, California. The coastal subway now requires $ 81.21 per hour to afford a modest two-bedroom rental, the highest in the country.
With the current minimum wage, the full -time California worker will have to launch 120 hours a week to afford a two -bedroom apartment. According to the report, “nowhere in the United States-not a state, a metropolitan area or a district-a full-time worker can afford a modest home for hiring two bedrooms.”
The report attributes the problem of severe and constant delivery shortages, evaluating a national difference of 7.1 million homes at affordable prices for extremely low incomes or Eli households.
Critics say the home market in California is also prevented by overlapping layers of regulation.
“[California Environmental Quality Act] And the restrictive zoning provisions are key contributing to the shortage of homes in California, “said Dr. Wayne Weyngarden, a senior associate at the Pacific Research Institute.” The predominant salary mandates, combined with expensive eco -friendly mandates … further inflate housing costs. “
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People stroll through the Boardwalk entertainment park of Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, California. The popular tourist destination is also home to the highest salary in the country.
The chairman of the Republican Party of Santa Cruz Crus Mike Lelier, told Fox Business that the accessibility crisis is a direct result of decades of progressive policy.
“The local planning department has made it so outrageously expensive to build that it is simply not profitable unless you are supported by a large corporate entrepreneur,” Ael said. “You then add CEQA, reviews of the coastal committee, endless delays of Greenbelt permits and restrictions. This is a bureaucratic blockage by design.”
He also criticized the University of California in Santa Cruz to expand his student population more faster than he builds housing. “The UCSC continues to expand, but they do not build hostels fast enough. So students flood the local market and the landlords rent – because mom and dad pay the bill,” he said.
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“This is a residential crisis created by politics,” Ael said. “And unless we change the course, it will only get worse.”
Santa Cruz Beach’s Boardwalk and Santa Cruz County Business Council did not immediately respond to Fox Business’s request for comment.
The full report can be found at https://nlihc.org/oor
Original article source: This city in California heads the most expensive rental market in the country for the third year