Agenda - 04-15-2008-3d - Laserfiche WebLink

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®. . Orange County, North Carolina - AIFCH - 2007 Orange County's median income is about 20% higher than the state's and 21 % higher than the nation's. In terms of per capita income, Orange County ranks fourth among all counties in North Carolina and third among counties in the Triangle region, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. 4.0 HOUSING In 1990, the total number of housing units in Orange County was 38,683. During the next decade, inventory increased by 27.4% to 49,289 units. The number of owner-occupied units increased by 32.4%, representing more than half of all housing units in Orange County.' In Chapel Hill, owner-occupied housing represented 43% of all occupied units in 2000, a higher percentage than in 1990 (41 %) and 1980 (42%).. Overall, the percentage of owner-occupied housing rose 32.4% (6,452 units) between 1990 and 2000. The largest increases were seen in the percentage of three- or four-unit housing (124.4%), one-unit detached (39.4%), five or more units (27.9%) and one-unit attached (24.4%). The majority (80.2%) of the County's owner-occupied housing is single-family detached. Most of the inventory (68.7%) was built between 1960 and 1994; almost 13% (6,362 units) was built between 1995 and 2000. The remaining inventory was built before 1950. Rental housing is generally older than owner-occupied housing, with almost 63% built before 1980 compared to 45.7% of owner-occupied housing. The median year is 1975. 4.1 Housing Affordability The commonly accepted standard~of affordability, developed by the. National Low-Income . Housing Coalition (LISC), is a housing expense at or below 30 percent of total income. s North Carolina According to a study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) on housing affordability, in North Carolina the fair market rent (FMR) for atwo-bedroom apartment is $656.00. In order to afford this level of rent and utilities, without paying more than 30% of income on housing, a household must earn $2,186 monthly or $26,237 annually. Assuming a 40-hour week, 52 weeks per year, that means a housing wage of $12.61 per hour. In North Carolina, the mean (average) wage for a renter is $11.05 an hour. In order to afford the FMR for atwo-bedroom apartment at this wage, a renter must work 46 hours per week, 52 weeks a year. Or, working 40 hours per week year round, a household must include 1.1 workers earning the mean renter wage in order to make thetwo-bedroom FMR affordable. 7