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Renters in most Utah counties likely don’t make enough to afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment, according to new data.

The “Out of Reach 2024″ report was released recently the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the National Low Income Housing Coalition. The report uses HUD’s fair-market rent calculations to determine the housing wage — how much a full-time worker must earn to afford a modest rental home without spending more than 30% of their income on housing — for states, counties and metropolitan areas across the country.

The report found that “more renters than ever before are paying more than they can afford on rent,” and risk homelessness, said Diane Yentel, who heads the coalition.

That includes Utah, where the mean wage for renters was lower than the housing wage in all but four counties, and was within 50 cents of it in another two. All six are rural counties.

Renters in Utah can’t afford to buy a home in all but one county, according to a recent analysis by The Salt Lake Tribune of U.S. Census Bureau and real-estate industry data. And based on a Tribune analysis of the new report, they can’t afford to rent in most counties, either.

The coalition’s analysis found Utah’s statewide housing wage — what a person would have to earn to be able to afford a two-bedroom apartment at fair-market rent — is $26.89 an hour.

That cost varies from $17.40 an hour in several rural counties to $30.88 in Salt Lake County, and a maximum of $34.75 in Summit County. There is data available for every county in Utah except Daggett County.

Meanwhile, the mean renter wage is lower statewide and in nearly every county than the housing wage — sometimes by double-digit numbers.

It’s only higher in Duchesne, Garfield, San Juan and Wayne counties, all rural counties in eastern or southeastern Utah.

Mean renter wages also are lower but within 50 cents an hour in two other counties — Box Elder County in the northwestern part of the state and Uintah County in eastern Utah. That gap is small enough that the NLIHC determined a renter could work one job and still afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment.

In other counties, the gap between the typical renter and housing wages varies from 87 cents in Beaver County to $15.64 in Kane County and averages about $7 an hour (more than $14,500 a year).

There is more affordability for one-bedroom apartments, but the mean renter wage is still short in 18 counties, including Cache, Davis, Grand, Iron, Kane, Salt Lake, Tooele, Washington and Weber.

The gap matters because even in “an improving economic landscape,” renters continue to struggle, Yentel said, and that leads to more evictions and higher rates of homelessness.

There is, however, some good news for Utah renters.

For one, the state’s housing wage is about in the middle compared to other states.

Utah’s housing wage also is lower than neighboring Arizona, Colorado and Nevada, as well as other western states like California, Oregon and Washington. Utah’s northern neighbors have housing wages somewhat lower than Utah’s — Idaho’s is about $4 lower, and Wyoming’s is about $8 lower.

And though there are new and luxury rentals across the state that cost much more than the fair-market rent HUD set, one analysis found typical rents for one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments are lower.

Median rent along the Wasatch Front is between $77 and $166 a month less than fair-market rent for two-bedroom apartments, according to data from ApartmentList.com.

And median rent is only higher than fair-market in Davis County by $8, the ApartmentList data shows — it is lower in Salt Lake, Utah and Weber counties by at least $80.

Utah has focused on ways to improve the state’s housing crisis, but most have focused on homeownership.

As part of the Out of Reach report, the coalition suggested solutions for the rental side, though they are actions the federal government is advised to take. The coalition has recommended:

• Long-term federal investments in affordable housing, including rental assistance.

• Construction of deeply affordable housing.

• Preservation of existing affordable housing.

• Stronger renter protections.

Megan Banta is The Salt Lake Tribune’s data enterprise reporter, a philanthropically supported position. The Tribune retains control over all editorial decisions.

Ten hemp companies and one individual hemp seller are suing the state of Wyoming over a ban on the cannabis-like substance delta-8 THC. They are calling the law, which took effect Monday, unconstitutional and want it blocked.

The lawsuit was filed last Friday in the U.S. District Court against Wyoming Gov.Mark Gordon (R), attorney general Bridget Hill (R), director of agriculture Doug Miyamoto and all of Wyoming’s elected prosecutors.

“We will fight to keep our small businesses open, keep food on the tables of our staff, and keep products coming to the hardworking people [of] Wyoming,” Gillette’s Mountain High Wellness store owners Sarah and Richard McDaniel, who are among the plaintiffs, said in a statement as reported by WyoFile. “The Hemp Community of Wyoming is not backing down until the people of Wyoming have the right to decide what we use for alternative options to big pharma and our small businesses have the right to continue to operate.”

Read Also: Intoxicating Hemp Products Face Regulatory Crackdown Across Multiple States

The Delta-8 Question

What is delta-8 THC and why is it banned?

Delta-8 THC is a chemical component of the cannabis plant. Although delta-8 occurs naturally in very small concentrations, it can produce a mild psychoactive effect in some people similar to delta-9 THC.

New industrial methodologies enable delta-8 THC to be converted from CBD derived from hemp. Products developed as a result of the 2018 federal Farm Bill that legalized hemp are therefore not subject to the same testing requirements as cannabis, creating a legal loophole.

The biggest problem connected to delta-8 THC has mostly to do with the question of safety. It takes a proficient and experienced chemist to ensure the safe conversion of CBD molecules into THC molecules, writes Forbes. Inappropriate or imprecise techniques could potentially result in dangerous impurities in the final product.

This is why many states are banning delta-8 and other synthetic cannabis products.

“(The new law) creates insurmountable confusion around criminal liability and destroys the mere act of processing hemp into consumable products,” reads the lawsuit. “(We) face irreparable harm unless this court enjoins (the law).

Unconstitutional And Too Broad

The plaintiffs also claim that the new ban illegally narrows the federal definition of hemp, impacts interstate transpiration laws, and is too broad.

“For instance, [Senate File 32 – Hemp-limitations on psychoactive substances] bans hemp containing any “synthetic substance,” a term which is overly broad that incorporates “non ‘psychoactive substances’” like CBD that contains no THC,” the filing states. 

The lawsuit lists the following businesses as plaintiffs: Up In Smoke II (Laramie), Capitol Botanicals (Cody), Dr. Chronic’s Concentrates (Casper), Flower Castle Elevated Wellness (Cheyenne), and CinD’s CBD and Vape (Torrington). It also includes the agricultural operation Greybull River Farms.

The new law is “unconstitutional, as it deprived plaintiffs from cultivating, distributing, transporting and selling hemp plants and hemp-derived products that are declared legal under the 2018 Farm Bill,” reads the document. The plaintiffs also say if the law is enacted and individuals who cultivate hemp plants are to be prosecuted they’ll suffer “irreparable harm.”

“An injunction is the proper remedy when challenging the constitutionality of state action.”

Read Next:

To keep on top of what is happening with cannabis and hemp in the U.S., join us at the 19th Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference, which is coming to Chicago this Oct. 8-9. Get your tickets now before prices go up by following this link.

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