Maya Brennan, lead researcher for the study, tells GlobeSt.com that the center used data from the American Housing Survey, which is conducted by the US Housing and Urban Development Agency. Based on this data it found that almost 40 million US households met its definition of working families--households that work the equivalent of a full-time job and earn at least the annual minimum wage of $10,712, but no more than 120% of the median income in their area. "In some areas of the country, that figure can be quite high," she says, "ranging from $50,000 to as much as $80,000." The norm, though, was around $30,000, or less than 50% of the median income in the area. "Still, though, conceivably you could have two school teachers in a household or two accountants in some areas and they would not be able to comfortably afford rent or a mortgage."

The report also found that the growth dearth of affordable housing shortage is no longer limited to the coastal cities or large urban metro areas. Cities like Denver saw the number of people having to pony up half or more of their income for housing increase by 162% between 1995 and 2004. In Charlotte that figure was 86% between 1995 and 2002.

The most critical housing needs were worst in the West Coast cities of Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Diego, and the East Coast markets of New York and Miami. However, Brennan as points out, cities that were once seen as good places to relocate for working families, such as Atlanta or Indianapolis, have moved beyond the reach of low to moderate income levels.