The calculation for this article starts from the position that a 2 bedroom rental in this state is sub $800 (~$797). A 2 bedroom rental in my neighborhood starts at $1,350, and that seems to be the "fair" going rate inside Portland proper (i.e. West of 82nd, no offense). Following the standard that rent should not exceed 1/3 (not even the 30% quoted in the article) of your monthly income, you would need to gross $4,050 per month, or $48,600 per year, to qualify. $16.61 is approximately $32,000 annual gross, meaning you would need to make a full 50% MORE than the $16.61 (~$25.31/hr) quoted in the article to live in Portland. That's kind of staggering. We're not talking you need to make 5% or 10% or 15% more; we're talking 50% more. I understand that Oregon is not Portland, but this is in r/portland and the PDX MSA makes up nearly half (~47%) of our States entire population.
To the point that always comes up that "our market is just catching up with the rest of the country". True but what about our wages? Will when will they come up? It seems like the "middle class" in this City has been making that $32k annual for about, oh I don't know...the last 30 years? Portland historically has the LOWEST wage rates for skilled labor (opposed to the Cities we're compared against like SF and NY where KOLA means the same skilled work literally pays three times more) because our City is overstuffed with 20 and 30 something college grads fighting for piecemeal jobs that pay shit (see $32,000), meaning no matter what happens, we will always be the City that Works...for Less.
I guess the thing that gets me most is that 7 years ago our economy and housing market collapsed, I mean it literally fucking collapsed, and now I'm seeing home values in my neighborhood being grossly over-inflated, again, by outside investors paying $50-100k over market asking price and doing it with cash. I don't know...if feels like deja vu...like the idea of hyper inflated, unaffordable housing is somehow a good thing...I guess my memory just fooled me.