rising rent sucks

This is how much income a San Antonio resident needs to afford rent in the city

Every year is an ongoing battle for affordability.

If there's one thing nearly all renters can all agree on, it's the collective disdain for rising rent prices. Every year is an ongoing battle for affordability.

But luckily for San Antonio renters, they live in one of the most affordable cities in the United States. San Antonio has an average rent price that's much lower than the nearly $2,000 national average, and a lower-than-average annual income necessary to afford it. That's according to a recent income-to-rent study by business experts Chamber of Commerce.

The median annual income of a San Antonio resident is $44,167, the study says, which is $2,207 higher than what they would need to earn to afford the rent for a one bedroom apartment. A local would only need to make $41,960 a year to afford the median monthly rent, which amounts to $1,049.

San Antonio is not within the top 30 places with highest rents or income-rent gaps on the overall list of 120 U.S. cities.

The study used a 30 percent income-to-rent ratio to determine what a resident would need to make to afford their rent without using more than that generally recommended amount of their income.

The study's findings speak to a bigger problem of housing affordability and availability around the nation.

"Factors such as a lack of housing inventory and high mortgage rates have driven up rental costs across the country, which has left renters with limited options when it comes to finding affordable housing," the study's author said.

Elsewhere in Texas, someone living in Austin would need to make $63,800 a year to afford the $1,595 median monthly rent for their one bedroom apartment. Austin has the highest rent price out of all Texas cities listed in the study, but still does not crack the top 30.

In comparison, the study says, New York City has the highest rent in the country. Median rent costs $3,495 a month for a one-bedroom apartment, meaning that a New Yorker would need to make nearly $140,000 a year to afford it. According to the study's data, a New Yorker's median income sits at $65,317. But Miami has a larger gap, needing to make $120,000 instead of the actual median of $41,287.

Unsurprisingly, California cities dominate the top 10 most expensive cities on the list.

The top 10 cities with the highest incomes needed to afford rent are:

No. 1 – New York City, New York
No. 2 – Miami, Florida
No. 3 – San Francisco, California
No. 4 – Irvine, California
No. 5 – Boston, Massachusetts
No. 6 – Jersey City, New Jersey
No. 7 – San Diego, California
No. 8 – Fremont, California
No. 9 – San Jose, California
No. 10 – Santa Clarita, California

Data for Chamber of Commerce's study was found using the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Zillow, and Zumper.

The full report can be found on chamberofcommerce.org.

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Red Light

San Antonio City Council votes to end horse-drawn carriage rides by 2030

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Horses will no longer pull carriages on the streets of downtown San Antonio.

Life for a horse in San Antonio is about to look a lot different. City Council has unanimously voted (with one abstention) to phase out the use of horse-drawn carriages over the next five years. That means by January 1, 2030, there will be none on the streets at all; instead, there will be electric carriages.

These plans have been in the making since 2022 — if not always at the same level of intensity — when District 2 Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and District 3 Councilmember Phyllis Viagran wrote up some concerns about the horses' wellbeing. A special session at the end of October 2024 hinted to San Antonians that the end for this practice was neigh — sorry, nigh — and the final vote was made on December 12. In addition to accepting the plan, it extended its timeframe by two years.

The initial proposal included worries about the horses' exposure to traffic and pollution, as well how their presence might exacerbate those issues for the environment at large by slowing traffic. It also raised concerns about the effects of standing or walking on hard surfaces for too long, or spending time in extreme weather.

At the December 12 meeting, San Antonians gave impassioned speeches about animal welfare — both to call attention to the need for better conditions and to defend the reputations and jobs of current horse drivers — but it wasn't the first time the council heard from the public about the issue.

In a prior city survey, 50,476 respondents weighed in. Of those respondents, 51.98 percent said they liked the idea to "Transition horse-drawn carriages to electric carriages and pedicabs and ban horse drawn carriages completely." There were alternative solutions listed, but respondents were less drawn to them.

A cultural divide emerged in the data and continued in the December meeting: some people avoided the carriages because they worried about the treatment of the horses, while others enjoyed them because of their historical echoes and living legacy. Many speakers in favor of the plan used this to form their argument, raising questions about history versus progress.

More tangible objections to the plan hinged on the businesses — specifically five companies — and jobs that would be lost, which was the main factor behind extending the adjustment period.

Discussions about the particulars of the electric vehicles are still to come, as confirmed in the discussion near the end of the meeting. Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez addressed concerns about what would happen to the horses, mentioning the Brady Hunter Foundation as a future partner in finding them rescue homes.

Some council members also brought up rhetorical questions about animal exploitation by groups like Sea World, the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, military and police forces, and even various groups in the Fiesta parade, although these did not come with a formal motion to pick the issues up.

This decision could have a ripple effect on other Texas cities. Dallas has recently considered a similar ban, but it appears to have stalled; Austin's attempts at a ban have been unsuccessful, but according to the Austin-American Statesman, only one operator is permitted to bring horses downtown. She declines to do so because the long hours are unfair to her and the horses. Houston does have horse-drawn carriages, and there seems to be little conversation about banning them.

Cities like Chicago and Salt Lake City have led the charge in the United States with some of the most prominent successful bans. Other cities around the world with bans include Brussels and Guadalajara, which both switched to electric models. Bans that have been around for years, like Guadalajara's and Prague's, still aren't out of the woods — people are still pushing back on the decision, so it sounds like San Antonio still has much work cut out for it.

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