Rents are rising across the region and tens of thousands of local residents work in occupations that on average do not pay enough for them to afford modest rental units, according to a new report and a Dayton Daily News analysis.

The average fair market rent in the Dayton metro area is about $872 for a modest two-bedroom apartment, according to the 2022 Out of Reach report by COHHIO and the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

Full-time workers in the area would need to earn about $16.77 per hour to afford $872 per month, without shouldering a heavy housing cost burden, the report states.

Rent is generally considered affordable if renters do not have to spend more than 30% of their gross income on housing. But renters in the region on average earn about $16.40 per hour, the report says, and many people make less than that.

A Dayton Daily News analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data found that some major occupational categories on average pay less than $16.77 per hour in the Dayton region.

Here is a look at the average wage data from across the region: