To afford a one-bedroom market rate rental unit, the average Santa Barbaran has to earn $22.88 an hour, $27.42 for a two-bedroom, and $36 for a three-bedroom, according to a study released by the National Low Income Housing Council. These numbers assume that renters spend no more than one-third of their income — long seen as the benchmark of economic balance and desirability — for housing. The organization released its nationwide study as part of a broader lobbying campaign to push the federal government for policies promoting greater housing affordability.
