Can you afford to live in Carson City? Statistically speaking, many cannot

Housing prices for both homeowners and renters alike in Carson City have been climbing as the housing market increases, but wages aren't following suit. There is housing available in Carson, but in some cases they're remaining empty, as some simply can't afford to pay the high costs of living anymore.

It’s not that we have a housing shortage as critical as Reno or Douglas County. A Facebook user noted recently there are brand new condos that have been finished for weeks, but so far remain mostly vacant.

Why? The high price, one can only assume.

The average income of a Carson City resident is $25,893 a year ($13.48 an hour full time). The US average is $28,555 a year ($14.87 an hour).

The Cost of Living Index for Carson City is 109.8.

An amount below 100 means Carson City is cheaper than the US average. A cost of living index above 100 means it is more expensive.

Two bedroom or more houses (i.e. for families) in the Carson area right now range from about $1,200 to $2,500, with some as high as $3,500, according to searches on Zillow, Trulia, Craigslist, and street side signage.

Landlords are more often than not asking that an applicant make three times the amount of rent in order to qualify.

So, if a two bedroom house is $1,500 a month before utilities, you would need to be making $4,500 a month in order to qualify, which breaks down to $28 dollars an hour 40 hours a week for a one-working-adult household, or $14 an hour for a two-working-adult household.

Now, according to the census, the average family size in Carson city is 3.2 people.

So if the average family size in Carson City is 3.2 people, either a two or three bedroom housing unit would be necessary to keep everyone in the household sane.

61 percent of three bedroom units are $1,000 to $1,500.

40 percent of two bedroom units are between $750 and $1,000.

By the living wage calculation, a person in Carson City would need to make a minimum of $23 per hour, working 40 hours a week, to support a household with a stay-at-home parent and 2 children.

According to the Nevada Rural Housing Authority, the median income of Carson City households is about $51,648. However, the median home owner income is $64,528, while the median renter income is $39,825. That's a 65.6 percent gap.

"In addition, in many markets there has been an increase in the number of lower paying jobs compared to higher income jobs," a housing study of Carson City the Nevada Rural Housing Authority commissioned states. "Nationally, it is estimated that over 58 percent of the jobs created since 2010 are lower paying, service-oriented positions."

As an aside, according to the census, 39 percent of children in 2015 were in single-parent families in Nevada overall. The percent of women aged 15-50 who are unwed, gave birth, and are on public assistance in Carson City is only 4 percent total.

So, if 96 percent of single parent households in Carson City are footing the bill alone, how are they affording it? They’re not, really, as 84 percent are below the poverty level, according to the census, despite the fact that half of them have some college or an associates degree under their belts.

In fact, according to Katie Coleman of the Nevada Rural Housing Authority, most people that could qualify for government-funded housing help, are unable to receive that help due to a shortage of vouchers.

"Due to limits in voucher quantities and rules around how the allocated vouchers are distributed (set forth by HUD) they are also left somewhere in the middle without assistance," said Coleman. "To illustrate, there are 1,393 vouchers allocated to all rural Nevada, and those are distributed by HUD to the state. Rural Nevada has not received additional vouchers in many years. It’s also important to note that most people in our program are working; about ½ are elderly and disabled. Right now, we have more than 1,000 people on the wait list."

In searching under these necessities, i.e. finding a rental that is less than $500 a month, with two bedrooms or more, came back with an unsurprising zero results.

However, even studios for less than $500 a month were nowhere to be found.

According to the census, the average rent being paid per person in Carson City is nearing $900. Which, by the new standard of needing to make 3 times the amount of rent, you would need to make $16.88 an hour working 40 hours a week to afford the average amount.

Quick Carson City Census Housing Facts:

• 54 percent of Carson City citizens are single.
• There are 23,459 housing units total in Carson City.
• 31 percent of households are single-adult households.
• 32 percent of households have children.
• 45 percent of households are renting.
• 20 percent of people are spending over 50 percent of their household income on rent.
• 26 percent of housing costs between $1,000 and $1,500

Now, let’s take a look at child care.

According to the census, 33 percent of Carson City households have children under the age of 18.

The average cost of daycare in Carson City is $576 per month for one child.

If a person is making minimum wage ($8.25 an hour), working 40 hours a week, the amount for childcare alone exceeds the amount a person is supposed to be spending on rent ($440).

The high cost of childcare is leading more and more parents to stay home to care for the child, which turns a two-working-adult household into a one-working-adult household, bringing us back to the original problem of needing to make two to four times the minimum wage just in order to pay rent.

In Carson City, 16 percent of residents are living in poverty, which is any income below $20,780 a year ($10.82 an hour).

According to the census, the jobs worked most by people in Carson City are Administrative, Management, Sales, Food and Serving, and Production.

Sales workers made an average of $23,908 a year ($12.45 an hour), food and service workers made an average of $18,402 per year ($9.58 an hour), and administrative workers made an average of $36,830 for women ($19.18 an hour) and $70,473 for men ($36 an hour).

The 10 largest employers in Carson City are the Carson City School District, Carson Tahoe Hospital, Carson City (Government), Department of Transportation, Western Nevada College, Department of Corrections, Department of Motor Vehicles, Casino Fandango, Click Bond, Inc. and the Walmart Supercenter.

So if we are to assume that if the jobs worked most in Carson City also represent the people that are living in Carson City, than the majority of people working the most common jobs cannot afford to live here.

So, can you afford to raise a family here, or even just live on your own? Statistically, for many of you reading, probably not.

All isn't completely lost, however, as programs implemented by entities such as the Nevada Rural Housing Authority have been working to address these issues.

For example, they have the Home At Last down payment assistance program, which can help homebuyers into a home of their own.

"There is also a guaranteed USDA loan option, but in terms of financial assistance for workforce housing, that remains very, very limited and really the 'nut to crack,'" said Coleman.

The Nevada Legislature has also formed the "Committee to Study Issues Regarding Affordable Housing," who have come up with some proposals to address the housing issue.

One such proposal is to create a Nevada affordable housing tax credit program to encourage the development and preservation of low-income residential housing projects statewide.

The proposed program is a four-year pilot program, which authorizes up to $10 million of transferrable tax credits per fiscal year, not to exceed a total of $40 million, to be administered by Nevada Housing Department.

Another idea is the "Housing as Healthcare" plan, which aims to provide "permanent supportive housing" for those who face health issues and are on Medicaid.

According to the proposal, "among the most important interventions for this group is addressing homelessness and housing instability. Housing First is an evidence-based, permanent, supportive housing intervention for chronically homeless individuals that has the potential to improve health outcomes and reduce costs to health care and other public safety net programs."

The idea is, if people living in an unstable living situation or are homeless would be able to live in stable living conditions, their healthcare issues would decrease significantly, therefore taking some of the burden off of the Nevada Medicaid system and lowering overall costs for taxpayers.

For those people who fall in the middle range, however, (i.e. aren't threatened by homelessness, but perhaps aren't financially able to purchase a home), there aren't many options currently to combat the rising rent prices in the area.