The National Low Income Housing Coalition just came out with its 2011 data dump, and Hawaii tops the nation in the price of its rental housing.

More specifically, the NLIHC calculates Hawaii’s "housing wage" at $31.08 per hour.  The “housing wage” which is the full-time hourly wage a household would need to earn in order to afford the fair market rent for an apartment, paying no more than 30 percent of their income on housing.

Here is their news release:

In Hawaii, the Fair Market Rent (FMR) for a two-bedroom apartment is $1,616. In order to afford this level of rent and utilities, without paying more than 30% of income on housing, a household must earn $5,388 monthly or $64,651 annually. Assuming a 40-hour work week, 52 weeks per year, this level of income translates into a Housing Wage of $31.08.

In Hawaii, a minimum wage worker earns an hourly wage of $7.25. In order to afford the FMR for a two-bedroom apartment, a minimum wage earner must work 171 hours per week, 52 weeks per year. Or, a household must include 4.3 minimum wage earner(s) working 40 hours per week year-round in order to make the two bedroom FMR affordable.

In Hawaii, the estimated mean (average) wage for a renter is $13.65 an hour. In order to afford the FMR for a two-bedroom apartment at this wage, a renter must work 91 hours per week, 52 weeks per year. Or, working 40 hours per week year-round, a household must include 2.3 worker(s) earning the mean renter wage in order to make the two-bedroom FMR affordable.

Monthly Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments for an individual are $674 in Hawaii. If SSI represents an individual's sole source of income, $202 in monthly rent is affordable, while the FMR for a one-bedroom is $1,339.

A unit is considered affordable if it costs no more than 30% of the renter's income

MORE HAWAII DATA

For an explanation of these data, see How to Use the Numbers / Where the Numbers Come From.

---30---

RELATED: Hawaii Rated Worst State to Earn a Living