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The Places in America Where Most Income Goes to Rent

priceonomics.com

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Re: The Places in America Where Most Income Goes to Rent

#3
Really surprised to see Detroit that high on the list. I kind of wonder what the relative availability of jobs in Detroit is vs, say, Dallas or Chicago (which offer some significant lifestyle advantages over Detroit). It would also have been a much better comparison if some approximation of state and local income taxes were factored in.

Re: The Places in America Where Most Income Goes to Rent

#6
post #2

The confluence or random circumstance and intentional lobbying that have allowed SF area landlords to ensure that a low stock of housing is maintained in the face of skyrocketing demand is truly fascinating.

It’s not just SF, it’s every community. I’ve spoken with developers (like, housing) and they face difficulties in every community in America. NIMBYism is running rampant, and disenfranchised voters are unable to fight, or don’t care enough to get involved. This is why local elections matter. My city just elected a NIMBY city council, which means we’re screwed for years, but we won’t stop fighting. People deserve to have places to live, and people deserve sane cities.

Re: The Places in America Where Most Income Goes to Rent

#7
It's interesting that some of the highest and lowest after-rent salaries are in the Bay area. That's a pretty clear indicator of SF's constrained housing supply in particular. It's also interesting so many low ranked after-rent cities are in Florida, which might reflect a strong desire to live there despite the lack of job opportunity.

Re: The Places in America Where Most Income Goes to Rent

#8
post #3

Really surprised to see Detroit that high on the list. I kind of wonder what the relative availability of jobs in Detroit is vs, say, Dallas or Chicago (which offer some significant lifestyle advantages over Detroit). It would also have been a much better comparison if some approximation of state and local income taxes were factored in.

Detroit is in a hype bubble, I think (sauce: lived there for a bit). You can absolutely pay $2,000 for an apartment in a part of town with some blown-out buildings nearby and nothing much to walk to. Why you’d do that, I don’t know, but you can. There are jobs if you wanna work for GM or Quicken Loans, but that’s about it.

There are affordable rents there, but what you save in rent you pay in car insurance. Michigan has the highest in the nation, and Detroit has the highest in the state. I paid almost $500 per month for mine. The legislature keeps trying to change policy to fix this (as it is ultimately a policy issue), but it usually gets shot down by the GOP who think it goes too far and Democrats who don’t think it goes far enough.

Re: The Places in America Where Most Income Goes to Rent

#9

Interesting how many of the salaries in these samples are tied to college towns. Cambridge, College Station, Knoxville, & Chapel Hill just to name a few that I saw.

Data Source: BusinessStudent.com

Makes sense that college towns would be over-represented.

Re: The Places in America Where Most Income Goes to Rent

#10
post #7

It's interesting that some of the highest and lowest after-rent salaries are in the Bay area. That's a pretty clear indicator of SF's constrained housing supply in particular. It's also interesting so many low ranked after-rent cities are in Florida, which might reflect a strong desire to live there despite the lack of job opportunity.

Tourism and service jobs just don’t pay well in general, which is why Florida gets dinged in these surveys.
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