That hits renters especially hard. From 1993 to 1997, rent in Santa Clara County increased 29 percent after adjusting for inflation. Over the same period, household income grew just 11 percent. Among the jobs that typically don't pay enough are pharmacy technicians, tax preparers, dietitians, elementary school teachers and insurance underwriters. A department store sales clerk would have to work more than 112 hours per week, every week, to afford that rent, using the standard that rent shouldn't consume more than one-third of one's gross income.
Home ownership can be even tougher.
But Santa Clara residents, even with their high income, have a tougher trek to nab a home. In Silicon Valley, her salary qualifies her for one of two homes being built in Campbell this year by Habitat for Humanity , the international organization that acts like a low-cost lender by building homes that sell at cost. Some keep their jobs but take on exhausting commutes. Meanwhile, the poor, while benefiting somewhat from the labor shortage, struggle just to survive. By national standards, Santa Clara County doesn't have many indigent.