photo credit: Andrey_Popov // Shutterstock
The current federal minimum wage in the United States is $7.25, but studies are showing that nationally, someone would need to make $17.90 an hour to afford rent in a decent one-bedroom. If you want a two-bedroom, you need to be making at least $22.10 an hour. Currently, the average renter makes $16.88 an hour, which is still under what they would need to make to live comfortably.
According to CBS News, these findings are based on the budgeting plan of using on 30% of one’s income on housing.
The cheapest place to live in the county is currently Arkansas, where minimum wage is $8.50 and you’d need to make $13.84 an hour or $29,000 a year to live in a two-bedroom. The most expensive state is Hawaii, where one would need to make $36.13 an hour or $75,000 a year to rent a two-bedroom.
But you know where you could live on a minimum wage? Only 5 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington. Each of these states has a higher minimum wage than $7.25
“While the housing market may have recovered for many, we are nonetheless experiencing an affordable housing crisis, especially for very low-income families,” Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont wrote in the report’s preface. “In America today, nearly 11 million families pay more than half of their limited incomes toward rent and utilities. That leaves precious little for other essentials.”
Written by Clarke Jones
Source: CBS News