Many Colorado teachers must spend more than 40% of their income on rent as the housing crisis continues

Four international teachers crammed together in a two-bedroom house. A first-year teacher relying on financial support from her parents. A veteran educator pumping more than 40% of his salary into his rent.

Affordable housing continues to hover out of reach for teachers across Colorado in rural, suburban and urban districts alike, forcing many to allocate an unsustainable share of their pay to housing and resort to other drastic measures to secure a place to live.

A report published Wednesday by the nonprofit Keystone Policy Center highlights the hardship educators face in finding affordable housing — a factor that heavily influences whether teachers can work in a district and stay in the field altogether — with input from more than 3,200 educators surveyed in 10 Colorado districts earl