Redfin reported Wednesday that teachers can now afford 47.9% of rental apartments within commuting distance of schools, an increase from 40.7% last year.
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Small increases in teacher pay and stable asking rents have improved rent affordability for educators, but are still below pre-pandemic levels, according to a new report.
Redfin reported Wednesday that teachers can now afford 47.9% of rental apartments within commuting distance of schools, an increase from 40.7% last year.
A Redfin analysis of July rental listings and 2023 median K-12 public and private school teacher salaries in 33 U.S. metropolitan areas shows that despite progress, the market is still experiencing the aftereffects of the pandemic.
In 2019, teachers could afford 58% of available apartments located within commuting distance of their workplace.
In 2023, the median salary of teachers in the United States will increase by 3.8% annually to reach $64,266, outpacing the growth of rent prices, which have stabilized after the surge caused by the epidemic. Asking rents fell in 2023, rising just 0.4% compared to the previous year.
Rent stabilization is due to high rates of new apartment construction, which keeps rents growing. However, as apartment construction slows, rents may start to rise in the near future.
Many teachers continue to struggle with rent costs as the median rent is only $50 below its peak and rent increases have failed to keep pace with inflation. According to the National Education Association (NEA), the average teacher makes 5 percent less, adjusted for inflation, than a decade ago, leading to high turnover.
“For renting teachers, this small improvement in housing affordability is just a drop in the bucket,” said Sheharyar Bokhari, senior economist at Redfin.
“For many educators, homeownership remains out of reach, and unlike many workers today, they do not have the flexibility to work remotely in cheaper locations. Building affordable housing near schools should be a priority for U.S. policymakers priority, but that’s only half the battle, as teacher salaries have faced years of underinvestment.
In Portland, Oregon, teachers can afford an average of 91.3% of rental apartments near their workplace, the highest rate among 33 metro areas. High teacher salaries and falling rents in Portland contribute to this affordability. In comparison, Miami teachers can only afford 0.2% of nearby apartments, the lowest among the metros analyzed by Redfin.
Teacher salaries fell in all four metropolitan areas, with Miami seeing the most significant decline, down 11.9% from a year earlier to $53,297. Among the top 50 cities surveyed, Florida’s metro areas have the lowest teacher salaries and teacher employment fell 10.7% last year, according to NEA data.
Homeownership remains a challenge for teachers.
Teachers can only afford 14.3% of homes for sale within commuting distance, down slightly from 14.4% the previous year and sharply down from 39.1% in 2019.
Median monthly mortgage payments increased 4.7% annually in July, while asking rents increased less than 1%, according to Redfin. Mortgage payments are 90.7% above pre-pandemic levels, while asking rents are 21.4% above pre-pandemic levels.
Among the 50 largest metro areas, Cleveland offers the most affordable home buying options for teachers, with 61.1% of homes within reach. In comparison, California cities such as San Jose have the cheapest housing prices. Although teacher salaries are the highest in the survey, teachers can only purchase 0.1% of the houses due to high housing prices.
Recent trends show the most significant declines in home affordability in Hartford, Connecticut, and Kansas City, Missouri, while San Antonio and Atlanta have seen significant improvements.
The percentage of teachers who can afford housing in Hartford is 22.1%, down 34% from 2023 and down 11.9 percentage points, while in Kansas City it is down 7.9 percentage points.
San Antonio’s percentage of teachers who can afford housing is 20.6 percent, an increase of 6.4 percentage points from the previous year, followed by Atlanta with a 4.6 percentage point increase.
Email Richelle Hamill
