Stable housing should not be something you have to think about—it should be something that families can count on every day. But when families pay too much for rent, they’re forced to sacrifice to make ends meet — cutting back at the grocery store or delaying a trip to the doctor. Out of Reach is released annually by the National Low Income Housing Coalition and provides rental affordability data for every state, metro area, and county in the US. You can read the full 2025 report here.

MHP’s Minnesota Snapshot of the 2025 Out of Reach report highlights state and county trends that reveal that households in every corner of Minnesota are spending thousands of dollars more than they can afford each year just to pay the rent for a modest apartment.

Some Minnesota highlights from the 2025 report include:

• The Fair Market Rent (FMR) for a two-bedroom apartment in Minnesota is $1,468. In order to afford this level of rent and utilities — without paying more than 30% of income on housing — a household must earn $4,893 monthly or $58,711 annually. 

• Minnesota ranks #27 in the nation for the highest wages required to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment. The wage required to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment in Minnesota is the most expensive in the Midwest, including $5.08 higher than the Wisconsin housing wage, $8.24 higher than Iowa’s, $9.27 higher than South Dakota’s, and $8.76 higher than North Dakota’s.  

Hourly wage needed to afford a two-bedroom apartment 

• In order to afford rent without paying more than 30% of their income on housing, Minnesotans would need to earn $58,711 to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment. However, the average Minnesota worker earns an estimated $20.57 per hour, or the equivalent of $42,785 annually. 

• Compared to the state average of $28.23, non-metro area workers would need to earn $18.87 hourly to afford a two-bedroom apartment. 

• The Minneapolis / St. Paul metro area has the highest housing wage in the state, with a worker needing to earn $32.40 per hour — or earning an annual salary of $67,400 — to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment in the region. 

Rent affordable to median-income renter 

• Median-income renters in Carver County can afford the highest rent in the state at $1,737 per month. 

• Median-income renters in Wilkin County can only afford $701 per month, the lowest level in the state. 

• In contrast to a median-income renter being able to afford $1,335 at the statewide level, the median-income renter household in non-metro Minnesota can afford far less — at $1,027 per month. 

Hours at minimum wage to afford 1 bedroom apartment: 

• Minimum wage workers in Minnesota must work 82 hours per week to afford a modest one-bedroom apartment and 101 hours per week for a modest two-bedroom. This is the equivalent of working 2.1 or 2.5 full time jobs to afford a one and two-bedroom apartment, respectively. 

• Workers earning minimum wage in Minnesota must work at least 49 hours per week in every county in the state to be able to afford rent for a one-bedroom apartment. Statewide, a one-bedroom apartment costs $614 more per month, or $7,368 annually, than a full-time minimum wage earner can afford. 

• In non-metro areas, minimum wage workers must work 53 hours per week to afford a modest one-bedroom apartment, and 68 hours for a two-bedroom apartment. 

• In the 7-County Metro, minimum wage workers must work 95 hours per week to afford a modest one-bedroom apartment, and 116 hours for a two-bedroom apartment. 

Many of the most in demand jobs earn less than the housing wage, including critically needed healthcare jobs. 

• Home health and personal care aides, Minnesota’s most in demand occupation, do not earn enough to afford a one-bedroom at fair market rent. The median hourly wage for over 120,000 people working in this field falls short by $10,860 annually to afford a modest one-bedroom apartment. 

• Six of the top ten in demand jobs in Minnesota do not pay enough to afford a modest one-bedroom apartment, and eight of the top ten occupations do not pay enough to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment. 

Out of Reach data is available for every county and metro area in the country. Click here to see how Minnesota counties compare with each other.