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Since You Asked: Families face high rent all over Oregon Saturday Mar 17, 2018 at 2:01 AM I recently took a job in the Rogue Valley that pays close to $50,000. My wife stays home with our three children and home-schools the oldest two. We thought it would be easy to find a three-bedroom rental but have really been hard pressed to find something affordable. We found one place for $1,600 a month, but hope to find something for less. Is it like this everywhere in Oregon? — Frank J., Phoenix Data compiled by the National Association of Home Builders suggests you’re in for a tough time, Frank. The organization tracks a broad range of economic data for every congressional district, and the numbers for our neck of the woods are real eye-openers. Rental vacancy rates have long been reported between 2 and 5 percent in Jackson County, usually closer to 2 percent. For all of the counties east of the Cascades and in Southern Oregon it’s 3 percent. The median gross rent is $877, but that includes one-bedroom and studio apartments as well as houses. One out of two tenant households pay less than 30 percent of their income for rent. One in four spend as much as 50 percent of their income on rent, and one in four pays 50 percent or more of their income on rent. The statewide figures are similar with two notable differences: Metropolitan counties drive up the median gross rent to $1,015, and 26 percent of the renters spend more than half their income on housing. The median household income in Congressional District 2 is $60,621, with 35 percent of households renting. Statewide, median household income is $70,929, with 38 percent of the state’s households renting. We did find numerous 3-bedroom houses, townhouses and apartments available for rent for between $1,000 and $1,500 monthly in an online search of sites such as Zillow and Trulia. They may not be in your desired location and they may go fast, but there are at least multiple listings. Send questions to “Since You Asked,” Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by email to [email protected]. We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them.