Nearly half of Mecklenburg County renters struggle to pay housing costs, census finds

While the number of people calling the Charlotte region home continues to rise, many current residents can’t afford those homes.

About 102,000 households that rent in Mecklenburg County pay more than 30% of their income toward housing costs, according to recently released U.S. Census Bureau data . This leaves renters with less money for other needs.

What’s more, nearly 52,000 renters pay more than half their earnings toward housing. That’s about 1 out of ever 4 households that rent in the county.

In total, 47% of the estimated 215,400 households that rent in Mecklenburg are struggling to do so, a Charlotte Observer analysis of the census data found.

What does ‘cost-burdened’ mean?

If people in a household spend more than 30% of their income on housing costs — which includes rent, mortgages, insurance and utilities — they are considered cost-burdened, per the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development . If a household spends more than 50%, they’re considered severely cost-burdened.

The 30% threshold is based on the idea that a household needs to have a certain amount of money left over for other necessities such as food, clothing, medical needs and transportation.

If a household is spending too much on housing, they start down a slippery slope, said Stephanie Watkins-Cruz, director of housing policy with the nonprofit North Carolina Housing Coalition in Durham

“Cost burden is a really important data point for people to pay attention to because it’s basically a warning light,” Watkins-Cruz said. “Your budget is your budget, particularly if you’re someone with a limited income or lower income. But really anyone of any income.

“Once that threshold that you spend on housing becomes too large, other stuff automatically begins to fall to the wayside,” she said. “That has overall quality of life implications.”

Wages versus housing cost

Part of the issue can be attributed to North Carolina’s stagnant minimum wage.

A person making the current minimum wage of $7.25 an hour would need to work 139 hours a week to comfortably afford a two-bedroom unit at the fair market rate of $1,311 in the Charlotte-area, according to a July report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition .

And it’s important to note that the report’s numbers are based on data from last year. According to HUD , fair market rents have increased by about 17% from last year.

But a reality for Mecklenburg County renters is that not many two-bedroom apartments cost $1,311 a month. As of September, Apartments.com found that the average cost of a two-bedroom in Charlotte is $1,766.

A household would need to make more than $70,640 to pay less than 30% of their income on rent.

“The math isn’t mathing,” Watkins-Cruz said. “Wages have not kept up with the cost of living and it forces us to recognize how high the cost of living actually is... People are literally living paycheck to paycheck. That’s way more common than people realize at all income levels.”

Growth is complicated

Charlotte is branded as a growing city and the numbers back that up.

About 117 people move to the Charlotte-area every day , a new report found But if people who are already here can’t afford to be here, is the growth worth the hype?

“Growth is a complicated thing,” Watkins-Cruz said.. “It would be too simple to call it a good or a bad thing.”

It’s a precarious balance. Growth boosts the economy and can help fund programs for housing assistance, fixing existing problems, such as lack of housing, lack of affordable housing and large wage gaps. But growth can exacerbate those same issues, Watkins-Cruz said.

Ultimately, it’s a community issue. If households can only afford housing, they can’t contribute to their community, Watkins-Cruz said.

“That hurts growth,” Watkins-Cruz said. “People don’t have money left over to participate in community events. People don’t have time left over because they might have to take on another job... This is not an us versus them issue. Shelter is a basic human need.

“I hope that we begin to see how big this issue is and put our silos aside and figure out how to chip away at this together.”

A demographic breakdown

There are additional ways to looks at how people in Mecklenburg and its neighboring counties are dealing with rent problems, the Observer analysis of the census data found.

Between those who identify as White-only, Black-only and Hispanic, the Hispanic population rents the least amount of units, at a little over 29,700 households.

Yet Hispanic renters pay the largest portion of their paychecks toward housing, data shows. In the county, more than 16,600 Hispanic households pay more than 30% of their income towards housing. That’s about 56% of Hispanic renters.

Black renters in the county are close behind. There are about 87,000 renter households who identify as Black and about 46,000 renters are considered cost-burdened, the data shows.

In comparison, households that identify as white rent about 80,962 units. About 42% and 20% are either cost-burdened or severely cost-burdened, respectively.

Renters outside of Mecklenburg County

Tens of thousands of area renters — from Iredell County in the north to Lancaster County in South Carolina — pay more than half of their income on housing.

The problem is more severe in neighboring York and Lancaster counties in South Carolina. In both areas, more than half of the rental households are considered cost-burdened.

But the affordability issues aren’t just affecting renters.

About 22% of Mecklenburg County homeowners with a mortgage and 12% of county owners without a mortgage pay more than 30% of their income toward housing.

NC Reality Check reflects the Charlotte Observer’s commitment to holding those in power to account, shining a light on public issues that affect our local readers and illuminating the stories that set the Charlotte area and North Carolina apart. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email realitycheck@charlotteobserver.com