Author: Stephen Johnson / Source: Big Think
A full-time minimum wage isn’t enough money to rent an averagely priced one-bedroom home anywhere in the U.S., according to an annual report issued this week by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
The report illustrates the stark reality facing low-income workers in the U.
S. For instance, a full-time worker earning $7.25 per hour, the federal minimum wage, would need to work 122 hours a week to afford a modest two-bedroom rental home, priced at the national average fair market rent of $1,149, and still have money left for other necessities.“The same worker needs to work 99 hours per week for all 52 weeks of the year, or approximately two and a half full-time jobs, to afford a one-bedroom home at the national average fair market rent,” the report reads. “In no state, metropolitan area, or county can a worker earning the federal minimum wage or prevailing state minimum wage afford a two-bedroom rental home at fair market rent by working a standard 40-hour week.”
Here’s a map of the U.S. from the report showing how many hours you’d have to work at the $7.25 wage to afford a one-bedroom rental home at fair market rent.
The costliest state is Hawaii, where the minimum wage recently raised to $10.10 but you’d need to earn about $75,000 a year to rent a modest two-bedroom home. The cheapest housing is in Arkansas, a state with an $8.50 minimum wage, where you’d still need to make about $29,000 a year to afford a two-bedroom rental at fair market price.
One economic force driving low-income people out of housing is a process known…
The post Report: A minimum-wage job can’t pay the rent anywhere in U.S. appeared first on FeedBox.