Unleash Prosperity Senior Fellow Wendell Cox discusses the Trump administration that draws $ 4 billion to federal funds for the high-speed project of California on ‘The Bottom Line’.
Renting in Santa Cruz, California now requires a stifling income of more than $ 168,000 to rent a two-bedroom, a figure that makes the most priceless market in the nation for the third year in a row.
In the Santa Cruz area, located on the central coast, about 75 miles south of San Francisco, the hourly wage that is needed to pay a modest two bedrooms, according to the national low income of $ 63.33, has risen from $ 63.33 to $ 81.21, according to $ 81.21 Housing Coalition’s 2025 Out of Reach Report.
This has risen almost 30% since 2023 when they were placed at the top of the list for the first time.
Billionaire in-n-out heirs Lynsi Snyder and family who leave California for Tennessee
Visitors package the beach in front of the boardwalk of Santa Cruz Beach in Santa Cruz, California, on a summer day. The coastal city is ranked as the least affordable rental market in the US, according to the 2025 of the National Low Income Housing Coalition (Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images / Getty Images)
That means that a tenant must now earn $ 168,920 a year, or $ 4,223 per month, to pay a two-bedroom at fair market rental in the metro area, the report shows. In California, where the minimum wage is $ 16.50, it is the equivalent of working 4.9 full -time jobs.
The report notes that the typical tenant does not come close. The average tenant in Santa Cruz County earns $ 22.13 per hour. At that pace it would need around 3.7 full -time jobs to pay an apartment.
“This is a number 1 that we don’t want to be,” says Elaine Johnson, executive director of Housing Santa Cruz County to the Santa Cruz Sentinel. “This is a kind of hand of the deck for all involved.”
California State dominates the rankings of affordability, according to the report outside the range. The Golden State is the home of eight out of ten most expensive metro lines, including San Jose, San Francisco, Salinas and Santa Barbara. Statewide is the average home wage for an apartment with two bedrooms almost $ 50 per hour, which is the highest of every American state.
Timeline of years of and ‘disastrous’ high -speed project of California and ‘Rampal too expensive’
The coastline with a view of the yard near the boardwalk of Santa Cruz Beach in Santa Cruz, California. The Coastal Metro now requires $ 81.21 per hour to pay a modest rent with two bedrooms, the highest in the nation. (Stephen Dunn / Getty Images / Getty images)
With the current minimum wage, a full -time Californian employee should bring in 120 hours a week to pay the average two -bedroom apartment. According to the report: “Nowhere in the United States no single state, metropolitan area or province can pay a full-time employee with a minimum wage a modest rental home with two bedrooms.”
The report attributes the problem to a serious and stubborn shortage of delivery, whereby a national gap of 7.1 million affordable rental homes for extremely low incomes or ‘Eli’ households is estimated.
Critics say that the California housing market is also hindered by overlapping layers of regulations.
“CEQA[California Environmental Quality Act] And limiting destination regulations make an important contribution to California’s housing shortage, “said Dr. Wayne Winegarden, senior fellow at the Pacific Research Institute.” The prevailing wage mandates in combination with expensive environmental mandates … the housing costs further. “
People walk through the Santa Cruz Beach Promentpark in Santa Cruz, California. The popular tourist destination is also the home of the highest home wage in the country. (Craig Lee / San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images / Getty Images)
