It’s not just Lakewood where rents for apartments are through the roof.

According to a new report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, New Jersey ranks 7th of all 50 states when it comes to rental affordability, with the average renter needing to earn at least $31.32 an hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment at a fair market price.

That figure is calculated based on the need to limit housing expenses to a third of a monthly paycheck, a metric the federal government considers to be affordable.

“Inflation and escalating apartment rents keep safe, affordable housing out of reach for thousands of New Jerseyans, Arnold Cohen, a senior policy adviser for the Housing & Community Development Network of New Jersey, said during a press conference where they announced the group’s findings.

“What you have is people working hard, doing all they can for their family, and they are still faced with a very difficult decision of where they spend their dollars — on food, clothing, keeping a roof over their heads,” Cohen said. “People who are working full time shouldn’t have to face those kinds of difficult decisions.”

According to the report, which also broke down the state by county and region, Ocean County was one of the most expensive in the state, with a fair market rent of $1,558 for a two-bedroom rental.

But in reality, prices are much, much higher – both in Lakewood and around the state.

In a recent article published here on TLS, dozens of Lakewood residents said they are facing massive rent increases, particularly in the past few months, with one Lakewood couple, an existing tenant, telling TLS they received a notice of an over 30% increase, but took it to Beis Din.

Mr. Cohen agreed that rents are likely even higher than what is contained in the report, noting that the report analyzed U.S. census data that adjusted rents in the 40th percentile of an area for 2020 inflation and then modified using predictive modeling.

“The picture is much worse than what we’re presenting in the data today because inflation has gone so much higher than anyone would expect,” Cohen said.

36% of New Jersey residents rent, equaling to nearly 1.2 million rental households statewide, according to the report, which also found that 20% of households in Ocean County rent.

New Jersey trails Hawaii, California, Massachusetts, New York, Washington, D.C., and Washington state.