The average Delco renter needs to work 1.4 full-time jobs to afford a 2-bedroom apartment

According to the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania, 20 renter households face an eviction filing in Delaware County. When compared to the rest of the Commonwealth, Delco has the fourth-highest eviction filings. Municipalities such as Glenolden, Upper Darby, Brookhaven and Lansdowne had a higher filing rate in 2023 than the county average.

Commanded by the Foundation for Delaware County’s Housing Opportunities Program for Equity (HOPE), the rental housing working group relied heavily on data in search of solutions for the more than 177,000 residents in rental housing.

Jordan Casey, director of HOPE, said many are at risk of losing their living quarters because the market is becoming “increasingly untenable.”

“The stark reality painted by our county data shows the county has an aging housing stock with 81% of the houses and apartments being built before 1978 and 60% of the county’s housing stock was built before 1960,” Casey said. “An aging housing inventory has greater potential risk associated with various physical hazards within the property.”

Despite the aging inventory, Delco rental costs are higher than ever before.

“In order to afford a two-bedroom unit in Delaware County at what is considered the fair market rate of $1,470, one would need to make an hourly wage of $28.27 or the equivalent of an annual wage of $58,800,” Casey said. “If you are making them minimum wage, which is still a paltry $7.25, you would need to work 3.9 — we can call it four — full-time jobs to afford that rent. Thankfully, the average Delaware County renter makes more than minimum wage at $20.13 an hour. However, even at that wage, one would still need to work 1.4 full-time jobs to afford a two-bedroom unit at fair market prices.”

Casey said renters must often pay far more than fair market rent as landlords charge more than what the unit should command. Now, Delaware County eviction rates have surpassed pre-pandemic levels, according to the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania.

At the beginning of their search, the rental housing group held discussions about the symptoms of Delco’s rental issues and the systemic barriers preventing change.

The three priorities the group ended up with were eviction diversion, education, and supply.

“Our first and highest rank priority is a creation of an eviction diversion program to be clear. We are not advocating for an eviction moratorium or a halt to all evictions,” Casey said. “We are advocating for evictions to be rare and occur only in the most unavoidable circumstances.

Casey said they want to accomplish this by providing access to legal assistance, mediation services, financial counseling and “social service wraparound” in a phase-based approach.

In regards to education, the subgroup wants to fuel tenant empowerment while also engaging with landlords and municipalities.

“The supply group has prioritized seven key initiatives aimed at augmenting the affordable housing supply listed here in order of priority: model ordinances, funding a countywide housing market study, a county rental registry, a home repair program for landlords, funding to create an affordable renters insurance policy program, a NIMBY to YIMBY campaign and promotion of a transit-oriented development design and application,” Casey said.

Casey called on Delco Council to bring these efforts online.

“We urge council to support policies that not only address the immediate challenges but also ones that lay the foundation for lasting stability for our residents,” Casey said. “As mentioned earlier this means supporting and revisiting and reforming existing housing ordinances, landlord tenant laws and zoning regulations to ensure they reflect the needs of our communities.”