Our past few blog posts this month have looked at the cost of living versus the ability to earn enough money to secure stable housing, and the data shows that this is a statewide issue. Today, we are going to look at the housing math in La Porte County.
First, the Rent
According to the Out of Reach 2025 county data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition and Prosperity Indiana, here’s what modest housing costs in the Michigan City-La Porte area:
- Fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment: $1,036 per month; that’s a basic unit, utilities included.
- A one-bedroom runs $857 per month; a three-bedroom for a larger family, $1,311.
- To afford a two-bedroom unit without spending more than 30% of income on housing (the standard measure of affordability), a household needs to earn $41,440 a year, or $19.92 per hour, working full-time.
$19.92 is La Porte County’s Housing Wage. Our county’s housing wage is lower than the state average of $22.18
The Reality in La Porte County
In our last blog post, we shared that Indiana’s top 22 professions rarely earn enough income for a living wage. Below, we illustrate how that translates locally.
| Occupation | Median Hourly Wage Statewide | Reaches La Porte County’s $19.92 Housing Wage? |
| Waiters and waitresses | $13.41 | No |
| Fast food and counter workers | $13.84 | No |
| Cashiers | $14.01 | No |
| Retail salespersons | $14.83 | No |
| Home health and personal care aides | $15.38 | No |
| Restaurant cooks | $17.15 | No |
| Janitors and cleaners | $17.24 | No |
| Stockers and order fillers | $17.37 | No |
| Nursing assistants | $18.27 | No |
The community members who play vital roles in our community, in our restaurants, stores, warehouses, and care facilities, not one of them earns a median wage that affords a modest two-bedroom apartment. (These are statewide median wages; local pay in our smaller market often runs at or below these figures.)
For those earning Indiana’s minimum wage of $7.25, that would require working 110 hours a week. That’s nearly 16 hours a day, every single day. Additionally, that is putting all of one’s earned funds solely on rent. These numbers don’t consider additional necessities like food, utilities, and the general cost of living outside of rent.
The Renter’s Squeeze, By the Numbers
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, roughly 11,100 households rent their homes in La Porte County. For many of them, the math gets tight fast.
The median income for renter households in this area is $42,580, meaning that half of all renters earn less than this amount. The affordability threshold for a two-bedroom apartment is $41,440 in La Porte County. When considering these figures together, it becomes clear that nearly half of La Porte County’s renters have incomes at or below what is needed to afford a basic apartment.
For lower-income households, the gap becomes insurmountable. A household at 30% of our area median income earns roughly $25,020, which puts their affordable rent at just $626 a month. There is virtually nothing on the market at that price in our area.
The rental housing supply is thin at every level. As Center Township Trustee Lisa Pierzakowski said it in our conversation last summer: “affordable rental housing in La Porte County is critically scarce and virtually nonexistent for low-income households and limited even for moderate-income families with vacancy rates hovering around a tight 5–6%.”
Low vacancy rates lead to increased competition, which drives rents above the “fair market” benchmarks. Across the state, Indiana now has the lowest number of affordable available homes for its lowest-income renters in the Midwest.
Rent Is Only One Line in the Budget
Rent is what gets paid first, but it isn’t the whole budget. Per the MIT Living Wage Calculator for La Porte County, a family of four with two working parents also faces child care costs of $27,725 a year, more than housing and food combined, bringing the total annual expenses to $115,948.
La Porte County’s median household income of $71,055 tells the story of a community where families are stretched and where those earning below the median are choosing, every month, which essentials to forgo.
What the Gap Means
When we put the figures together, the picture is staggering:
- The rent: $1,036/month for a modest two-bedroom, requiring $19.92/hour
- The reality: the region’s most common jobs pay $13–$19/hour, half our renting households earn under $42,580, and there’s almost nothing to rent below $700 in our area.
That space between rent and reality is where housing insecurity lives. This is not due to poor decisions; this is simple math. This gap must be closed by supply: homes built and priced for the people who play vital roles in our community.
Other Posts in this series:
- The $74,028 Question: What a Family of Four Really Needs to Get by in Indiana
- Meet ALICE: The 38% of Hoosier Households Living One Emergency Away From Crisis
- The Jobs That Keep Our Community Running: Essential Work That Still Doesn’t Cover the Rent
Sources
- Out of Reach 2025: Indiana (state and county data), National Low Income Housing Coalition & Prosperity Indiana
- Out of Reach 2025 — Indiana state report (PDF)
- “Time for Indiana to act for Hoosiers in hardship,” Andrew Bradley (Prosperity Indiana), Indiana Capital Chronicle, May 2026
- “The Affordable Housing Emergency in La Porte County,” Homeward Bound Villages, July 2025
- MIT Living Wage Calculator — La Porte County, Indiana
- U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: LaPorte County, Indiana
