A new report shows that housing continues to be troublingly out of reach for Maryland’s low-income households and low-wage workers. This forces the difficult choice between paying rent and other basic needs.
The annual report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) and the Community Development Network of Maryland found that Maryland’s “Housing Wage” is approximately twice the state’s minimum wage. A state’s Housing Wage estimates the hourly wage a full-time worker must earn to rent a modest home without spending more than 30% of their income.
The report, Out of Reach 2025, showed that Maryland’s Housing Wage is $39.15, which translates into an annual salary of $81,434 or $6,786 monthly. This is more than double the state’s minimum wage. A family renting in Maryland today can expect to pay around $2,036 per month, on average, for a modest two-bedroom rental apartment. This is an increase of over $100 from $1,909 per month in 2024.
This hits hardest, naturally, for Maryland’s low-income workers, many of whom are employed in the health care industry. The national median hourly wage for home health aides, personal care aides, nursing assistants, orderlies, and psychiatric aides is $17.59. This is more than $20 less than the Housing Wage needed to afford the average modest two-bedroom rental in Maryland. According to ZipRecruiter, a nursing assistant in Baltimore earns an average of $20 per hour. A hospital orderly averages an hourly wage of $26.50. Both fall far below the $39.15 needed for housing.
“The high cost of housing continues to be one of the biggest issues facing Maryland families, including the very health care workers we all rely on when we’re sick – like the workforce employed by community health centers like ours,” said Kevin Lindamood, president and CEO of Health Care for the Homeless. “Cutting federal housing investments does nothing to support working families and instead puts far more Marylanders at risk of eviction and homelessness. Congress must protect and expand interventions that are proven to work: safe, stable housing and access to health care.”
This also excessively impacts Black and Latino households, along with women, since they make up a disproportionate number of home health care workers and personal care aides. This report highlights how the cost of housing is burdening minority communities, along with older renters, the hardest.
“The fact is that even modest housing is completely out of reach for too many households across the state – especially for low-income and fixed-income households,” said Claudia Wilson Randall, executive director of the Community Development Network of Maryland. “Maryland families are working harder than ever yet falling behind through no fault of their own. This report highlights the urgent need for solutions if Maryland is to maintain a thriving economy.”
