DC Area Teachers Can Only Afford One-Third of Homes For Sale

• May 2, 2019

by Nena Perry-Brown

There has been debate recently about whether DC and other cities should allot more funds to subsidize workforce housing. Now, a new Trulia study is adding some context to the housing affordability conversation.

Trulia released an analysis today which uses Labor Department and median home price data to examine how affordable housing is for the regional workforce. The report illustrates the extent to which many workers are burdened by housing costs.

"Today, a worker earning the U.S. median annual salary of $38,640 would spend 46.1% of their income on a median-priced home –$285,000 nationally – up 6.5 percentage points from three years ago," the report states. While the DC area median income is nearly twice the nationwide median, there is still an affordability problem for those who work in professions the public interacts with often. 

The median restaurant worker salary of $26,883 can only afford 1.5 percent of the home listings on the market in the DC area. The study also found that, in 42 of the 55 markets studied, teachers could afford to purchase less than half of the houses on the market. The DC area has a less hospitable market for teachers looking to purchase a home, as only 32 percent of listings on the market are available to them on a median salary of $74,915.

Trulia's analysis defines housing as affordable if the monthly payment is no more than 30 percent of take-home pay. For homeowners, it is assumed that buyers paid a 20 percent down payment and have a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage; property taxes, insurance and any homeowners' association fees are also factored.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/dc-area-teachers-can-only-afford-one-third-of-local-listings/15341