According to the Honolulu Advertiser, Hawaii is ranked as the most expensive state for renters. This is the second year in a row that Hawaii is ranked number one. Just when I reported that home prices were decreasing on Oahu, rent not only has gone up, but renters need to earn $48,940 a year to rent a normal 2 bedroom apartment. The national average salary renters must earn to afford a 2 bedroom apartment is $33,924…that’s about a $15,000 difference.

To break it down, for a two bedroom aparment which costs $1224 a month, renters need to earn an hourly wage of $23.53. And as we all know in Hawaii, the salaries aren’t comparable to that of the mainland, with most people taking around a $10,000 pay cut by working in Hawaii instead of the mainland. With the minimum wage in Hawaii at $6.75 an hour, the renter needs to make more than 3 times the minimum wage to rent a 2 bedroom apartment.

It seems that the housing market in Hawaii is just merciless. They cost too much to purchase, and now it seems the renting costs are slipping out of reach as well. Where I live, the cost to rent a 1 bedroom apartment is about $1500 a month. Prices just don’t seem to go down. Let’s just hope the state finds a solution soon. Otherwise, we might see more people living on the beach.

• Hawaii #1 for Median Monthly Housing Costs for Renters
• Hawaii Well Below National Average in Pay
• Housing Sales Dip Due to Increase in Housing Costs in 2006

               
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