What someone in Raleigh needs to make per year to afford rent
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Renters in the Raleigh metro area would need a household income of at least $70,451 per year to afford the typical monthly rent in the area, according to a new report.
Why it matters: That is 31% higher than what a Raleigh-area household would have needed to earn five years ago, per the analysis from Zillow.
What they did: Zillow assumed that rent should take up no more than 30% of household income — a common standard for calculating affordability.
- Zillow pegs a typical Raleigh-area rent in April at $1,761 a month.
Between the lines: After surging in the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, rent in the Triangle has stabilized in the past few years, as a large supply of new apartments opened.
- Raleigh households are also seeing their income grow as well. Median household income in Raleigh was $82,424 per year in 2023, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Zoom out: The income needed in the Raleigh metro area, which includes Wake, Johnston and Franklin counties, is still lower than the national average.
- To afford the typical nationwide rent of $2,024 per month, a household needs to make $80,949 yearly, Zillow's analysis found.
- New York City requires the highest income to afford rent, at $144,960 yearly.