Renters in the Olympia-Lacey area need to earn $37.69 an hour to afford a two-bedroom home, a national housing study found.

The figure represents the hourly wage a household must earn to keep housing costs at or below 30% of income.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) published the finding in its Out of Reach 2026 report, released May 25. The Olympian reported Monday, Sept. 7, on the local implications.

The Olympia-Lacey metro area ranks fourth among Washington's most expensive rental markets.

Only Seattle-Bellevue ($48.10 per hour), Bremerton-Silverdale ($39.06) and Tacoma ($37.90) require higher wages.

Washington's minimum wage is $17.13 per hour. A minimum-wage worker would need to clock 93 hours every week to afford a two-bedroom rental at fair market rate statewide, according to the report. For a one-bedroom, the figure drops to 78 hours per week.

That gap hits home in Thurston County.

The NLIHC report breaks down the required wage by ZIP code, and the numbers vary widely.

In central Olympia's 98501 ZIP code, a renter needs $36.73 per hour for a two-bedroom. In the 98506 and 98502 areas, the threshold climbs to $38.27. The most expensive ZIP codes in the county require more than $44 per hour, while several rural codes come in at $31.92.

Statewide, fair market rent runs $2,072 per month for a two-bedroom and $1,733 for a one-bedroom, according to the report. A household must earn $82,865 a year to cover that two-bedroom rent without exceeding the 30% guideline.

Washington's median hourly wage sits at $31.12, which the report says is not enough to afford even a studio at fair market rate.

More than 700,000 Washington workers earn less than $25 an hour.

The report found that 22% of Washington's more than 1.1 million renter households qualify as "extremely low-income," earning 30% or less of the area's median income.

The NLIHC said these households are more likely to sacrifice necessities like food and healthcare to cover rent, and to face evictions.

The state is short 182,692 rental units that are affordable and available for those households, according to the report. That shortage falls disproportionately on non-white and Latino renters.

Local data reinforces the trend. Thurston County's 2025 Comprehensive Plan update found that as of 2020, nearly 6,000 households in unincorporated areas spent more than half their income on housing.

Countywide, about 48% of renter households were cost-burdened. Rental costs in the county have nearly doubled since 2015, according to the county's housing element.

Olympia and Tumwater officials are working on related policy. ThurstonTalk reported that Tumwater is participating in a regional study examining housing affordability and supply barriers across Thurston County. In Olympia, Community Development Director Tim Smith presented a pilot program on Aug. 25 allowing people experiencing homelessness to use RVs as temporary housing on private property, The Jolt News reported.

The City Council expressed support for the program, which would issue six-month emergency housing permits.

The NLIHC report includes a searchable ZIP code tool so renters can look up wage thresholds for their area.