The required wage and annual income are calculated based on working 37.5 hours per week. Photo Credit: iStock.
According to a new report from property technology company Zoocasa, Hamilton residents need to earn a wage of over $33 an hour in order to afford apartment rent in the city.
The average one bedroom rent in Hamilton is reportedly $1,730.
Since the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) recommends that Canadians spend a maximum of 32 per cent of their income on housing, the Zoocasa report calculates that a Hamilton resident would need to make $33.27 per hour (or $64,875 annually) in order to “afford” rent.
A two-bedroom apartment in Hamilton costs an average of $2,100, meaning that a resident would need to make $40.38 per hour (or $78,750 annually).
The required wage and annual income are calculated based on working 37.5 hours per week.
The report also notes that the minimum wage in Ontario is significantly lower than the amount needed in order to “afford” rent in the City of Hamilton.
Ontario’s minimum wage was just increased to $17.20 per hour, up from $16.55 per hour.
Ontario’s minimum wage is one of the highest in the country.
The 3.9 per cent increase, which occurred Oct. 1, 2024, is tied to the Consumer Price Index.
The Zoocasa report also notes that a couple earning minimum wage would just barely be able to afford a one-bedroom apartment in Hamilton, since they would make a combined $34.40 an hour.
The situation in Toronto is even worse, with the average one-bedroom rent in the city standing at $2,500, which means that a resident would need to earn $48.08 an hour (or $93,750 annually) to afford rent.
But the highest rent in Canada is found in Vancouver, British Columbia, where a one-bedroom costs $2,690 a month, requiring an hourly wage of $51.73 and an annual income of $100,875.
Most recent census data (2021 census) shows that the median total income in the City of Hamilton was $40,400, while the median after-tax income was just $36,800, significantly lower than the current $64,875 threshold needed to afford rent.
The seemingly dire situation when it comes to affording rent in Hamilton is despite the fact that one-bedroom rents have been trending slightly downward as of late.
The most recent Rentals.ca Rent Report indicates that Hamilton one-bedroom rents are down 0.6 per cent compared to last month and down 6.1 per cent compared to last year.
Meanwhile, two-bedroom rents in the city are down 0.3 per cent month over month and down 5.0 per cent year over year.
However, those slight decreases are not much of a consolation when you consider that a two-bedroom apartment in the City of Hamilton was just $1,034 in October 2015.
With the average two-bedroom now at $2,100, that means rents have more than doubled, increasing 103 per cent.
The October 2015 data appears in a Rental Market Report from the CMHC.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
