The median rental household can't comfortably afford a two-bedroom apartment in 28 of Oregon's 36 counties, according to a new report.

The numbers from the National Low Income Housing Coalition show renters are struggling to contain housing costs across the state.

They're stretched even further in certain metro areas like Portland, where it would take 71 work hours a week for a minimum wage earner to afford even a studio apartment. In both Portland and Corvallis, the average rental household is unable to afford a one-bedroom apartment.

"Folks are really struggling to make ends meet," said Alison McIntosh, a spokeswoman for Neighborhood Partnerships, a nonprofit that convenes the Oregon Housing Alliance. "If you pay more than 30 percent of your income for housing, you don't have enough left over for basic necessities."

Rents, and housing costs generally, have been rising faster than the rate of inflation. They began to climb rapidly after the Great Recession as years of slow rental housing construction collided with resurgent demand.

Only recently has rent growth began to slow, particularly at the high end. But pockets of affordability in suburban areas are now seeing rents rise faster than in the urban core.

The study uses fair-market rents, which are determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to set local values for housing vouchers. It considers housing to be affordable when it consumes less than 30 percent of a household's income.

Oregon House lawmakers in April passed legislation to lift Oregon's statewide ban on rent control and require landlords to specify cause when evicting fixed-term tenants. It's currently making its way through the Senate, where a committee has eliminated the part of the bill that addresses rent control.

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com

503-294-5034

@enjus