Everybody knows that Seattle is one of the most expensive cities in the country. It is an expensive estate market, and it would cost you a lot if you decided to buy a house in Seattle. But it is also not cheap to rent an apartment. It is natural that rent prices in major cities are high but when you look at them in terms of annual salary, it can be quite shocking.
SmartAssets released a new study determining the minimum salary needed to live comfortably in 15 U.S. major cities. In their analysis living comfortably means paying no more than 30% of your household income for your apartment’s rent. It is a definition set by the Department of Housing and Human Development. If you spend more, your rent is considered “cost-burdened”.
The study analyzed rent-to-income ratio in 300 U.S. cities and then proceeded with the 15 largest metro areas. Seattle comes 6th in the list of the cities with the highest rent-to-income ratio. To comfortably rent there, your household would need to make $98,271 a year. The leader on this list is San Francisco with $216,129 of annual income needed to rent comfortably, followed by New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Washington, D.C.
The analysis used Fair Market Rents prices for 2-bedroom apartments in April 2016. The gross rent estimate doesn’t include telephone and internet services, cable and satellite television but the cost of the main utilities a tenant pays is included.
Seattle is often referred to as the “next San Francisco” in terms of its allure, cost and importance. It is destined to only become more expensive for its residents. It remains a city hungry for recognition and popularity but desirous of all those environmental features, mainly clean water and air, that popularity tends to vanquish. It is a city that has teetered on an important nexus between maintaining what makes it popular while moderating its popularity. As for rental costs, also remember that Seattle does not have a lid on what landlords can charge, such as bigger cities like New York do. Perhaps this is one of the issues it must soon determine which side of the fence it is on.
There comes a time when a city outspends its allure, and it seems that Seattle may have reached that point. Of course, with the recognition, attractions, and atmosphere it continues to provide, what we see is a strange morphing of gentrification that invites a certain class while making the city unlivable for others. An interesting article, especially when reading between the lines.