“We have the resources and the capacity to create more affordable housing in this state (both rental and for sale), but what we don't have is the will to reduce overregulation and encourage development suitable for all income levels,” it said.

In the “Out of Reach” study, the National Low-Income Housing group provides a side-by-side comparison of wages and rents in every county, metropolitan area, combined nonmetropolitan area and state in the United States. For each jurisdiction, the report calculates the amount of money a household must earn in order to afford a rental unit in a range of sizes at the area's Fair Market Rent (FMR), if they are to pay no more than 30% of income for housing costs.

In this year's study, the gap between what a typical minimum-wage worker earns and what is required in average rent is the biggest in Hawaii. California and Washington, D.C., New York and New Jersey are next.

Kikis said that the NJ apartment group has been working to advance legislation that would reduce rents by eliminating red-tape regulations. Specifically, it is helping to push a bill that would eliminate duplicate registrations of apartment units that boost annual rents in some municipalities by more than $100.