Skip to content Skip to navigation

Rural America Has Jobs. Now It Just Needs Housing

Austin Steinbach said he was “dead set” on moving to this rural farming town for a job that offered benefits, a $500 signing bonus and a higher wage. But the 25-year-old father of two had to turn it down after a week-long search with his wife for a home failed to turn up anything livable or in their price range.“What they offered out there was great, but I can’t afford to move because I can’t afford to rent a house there,” he said. Instead, Mr. Steinbach will stay in Creston, Iowa, where he supports his family earning $2 less an hour power-washing farm equipment and has no benefits. Fewer homes are being built per household than at almost any time in U.S. history, and it is even worse in rural communities. Developers in less populated areas can’t tap into the economies of scale available in urban centers, making materials and labor more expensive. Rural areas are also seeing their populations stagnate or decline as younger people opt for urban living, adding to the gamble involved in speculative building.“As a developer or builder, you have to think hard about whether the risk is worth the reward,” said K.C. Belitz, president of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce. “For a lot, it isn’t.”

Article Link: 
Article Source: 
The Wall Street Journal
category: