Annapolis, MD — Low-income workers in Maryland continue to face steep rental costs, with new data showing they must earn more than twice the state’s minimum wage to afford even a one-bedroom apartment without sacrificing other essentials.
Report Highlights Growing Affordability Gap
The 2025 “Out of Reach” report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition finds that a worker earning Maryland’s minimum wage of $15 an hour would need to work 89 hours a week to afford a one-bedroom rental home while still covering other living expenses.
This is the second consecutive year Maryland ranks as the eighth-most difficult state for low-income renters to afford housing.
“We have not made much progress in the state of Maryland and housing,” said Claudia Wilson Randall, executive director of the Community Development Network of Maryland, in an interview with Maryland Matters.
Housing Wage Continues to Climb
The report shows Marylanders working 40 hours a week would need to earn $39.15 an hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment in fiscal 2025 — up from $36.70 the year before. That translates to at least $6,786 a month or $81,434 annually to cover the average fair market rent of $2,036 without spending more than 30% of income on housing…