Full-time workers need to earn $27.11 per hour to afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment at Fair Market Rent in North Carolina. This is North Carolina’s “2026 Housing Wage” according to Out of Reach, a report published today by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC).
Out of Reach, released annually, documents the gulf between wages and what people need to earn to afford their rents. The report routinely shows that affordable rental homes remain out of reach for millions of low-wage workers and their families. The report’s Housing Wage is an estimate of the hourly wage full-time workers must earn to afford a rental home at HUD’s Fair Market Rent without spending more than 30% of their incomes.
In 2026, the average hourly wage earned by renters is $24.84, which is $9.89 less than the national two-bedroom Housing Wage of $34.73 and $4.35 less than the one-bedroom Housing Wage of $29.19. North Carolina is among the 49 states where renters earning the average renter wage must work more than 40 hours per week to afford a modest two-bedroom rental home. Some common occupations in North Carolina like construction workers, retail salespeople, and nursing assistants provide a median wage lower than the wage needed to afford even a modest one-bedroom apartment.
In North Carolina’s most populous regions, the housing wage is even higher than the state Housing Wage of $27.11:
| Most Expensive Areas in NC | 2-Bedroom Housing Wage |
| Asheville MSA | $35.29 |
| Raleigh-Cary MSARaleigh-Cary MSA | $33.65 |
| Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News HMFA | $32.94 |
| Durham-Chapel Hill HMFA | $32.90 |
| Gates County HMFA | $32.87 |
Out of Reach 2026 highlights the significant need for subsidies to assist the lowest-income renters. Despite this need, federal resources for affordable housing remain insufficient. Currently, only one in four eligible households receives federal housing assistance due to chronic underfunding. This underfunding is largely a result of housing assistance programs competing for limited discretionary federal funding.
“Housing affordability touches every corner of North Carolina, and every single year this report sounds the alarm for us to pay attention,” said Stephanie Watkins-Cruz, Director of Housing Policy at the North Carolina Housing Coalition. “Affordability is not a side issue – it’s the issue. As wages fall further behind the cost of living we need policy reforms that build more housing, more housing people can afford, AND protect the homes people already have. If we lose sight of affordability – and we rely on production interventions alone even as the data shows the gap growing wider – we’re basically telling families, seniors, workers, and North Carolinians everywhere that we don’t care whether they can afford to stay.”
We’ll continue to analyze the North Carolina OOR data over the next few weeks. For additional information, and to download the report, visit: http://www.nlihc.org/oor
