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Tag: Economy
U.S. Housing Wages Numbers… Say What??!
I was listening to a young woman’s podcast I sometimes catch, and there was a portion of her show where she was talking about today’s minimum wages and the cost of the average two bedroom apartments in each state.
First off, what is the minimum wage in each state, you may be asking?
Well, of course, they vary in each state.
So I’ll throw out a few states with their minimum wages.
THEN I’ll share the average median income of 50% of households in their area, and finally the minimum amount of income you must make in order to afford a two-bedroom apartment in said state. These are all 2023 numbers.
I’m going to start with my state:
Colorado:
Minimum Wage: $13.65/hour
Median Income of 50% of Households: $1,452/month
Income in Order to Afford a 2-Bedroom Apartment (Fair Market): $32.13/hour
New Jersey:
Minimum Wage: $14.13/hour
Median Income of 50% of Households: $1,545/month
Income in Order to Afford a 2-Bedroom Apartment (Fair Market): $33.50/hour
Louisiana:
Minimum Wage: $7.25/hour
Median Income of 50% of Households: $945/month
Income in Order to Afford a 2-Bedroom Apartment (Fair Market): $19.39/hour
Texas:
Minimum Wage: $7.25/hour
Median Income of 50% of Households: $1,150/month
Income in Order to Afford a 2-Bedroom Apartment(Fair Market): $25.06/hour
Washington State:
Minimum Wage: $15.74/hour
Median Income of 50% of Households: $1,486/month
Income in Order to Afford a 2-Bedroom Apartment (Fair Market): $36.33/hour
New York:
Minimum Wage: $14.20/hour
Median Income of 50% of Households: $1,331/month
Income in Order to Afford a 2-Bedroom Apartment (Fair Market): $40.08/hour
Pennsylvania:
Minimum Wage: $7.25/hour
Median Income of 50% of Households: $1,255/month
Income in Order to Afford a 2-Bedroom Apartment (Fair Market): $23.61/hour
Missouri:
Minimum Wage: $12.00/hour
Median Income of 50% of Households: $1,140/month
Income in Order to Afford a 2-Bedroom Apartment (Fair Market): $18.54/hour
California:
Minimum Wage: $15.50/hour
Median Income of 50% of Households: $1,429/month
Income in Order to Afford a 2-Bedroom Apartment (Fair Market): $42.25/hour
You can read all the states’ information here.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t make anything near $32/hour here in Colorado. Most jobs I’ve looked at since I’ve job searched from 2021 to present day don’t offer anything close to that amount. The most I’ve seen, at least in my field (well, my old field of office work) was around $20/hour.
Considering most individuals don’t make the amount needed to afford a decent two-bedroom apartment, how do they eat, pay utilities, and perhaps pay a car loan or student loan in addition to that?
I realize from reading several years ago that wages have stagnated since the mid-1970s and haven’t kept up with the cost of living. But I didn’t realize it was THIS BAD.
Do you remember when Bernie Sanders was running for president and was advocating for a $15/hour minimum wage? Although, that was across the board and didn’t account for each state having different minimum wages and costs of living.
I recall a few years back, pulitzer prize winning journalist Chris Hedges saying truly the average minimum wage should be more like $22/hour. That seems more on point for many of the more medium to expensive states.
In any case, I know the couple of decades I have left to work, I’ll never be making what is expected and those expected incomes will likely go up in the subsequent years. When do costs ever go down?
In my opinion, this is horrible and not right. Because wages haven’t been keeping up with cost of living, so many people can’t afford to ever buy a house on their own. Meaning, in order to survive in this terrible economy, a multitude of people/family members must live together with multiple incomes to pay the rent and utilities of an apartment. I know this from firsthand experience, as that’s what the situation is in my family.
So, what are your thoughts on this? Are you one of the few lucky people to be able to afford to live in a house, have a high income, or are you somewhere in between? Maybe you’re struggling like most of us. Share your thoughts. Thanks!
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Works cited:
“Out of Reach 2023: The High Cost of Housing.” National Low Income Housing Coalition, June 14, 2023.
“Men Without Chests” — Clueless, Heartless Elites
Our government doesn’t give a fig about us. They are out of touch with the average person’s way of life and live in their own elitist world.
This is why they are clueless and don’t care that $600 per person won’t even pay the rent in any state I know of. It may cover some utilities and it could be used for groceries, but that only takes care of a couple of needed items in order to survive.
Considering our government has been giving $1 trillion a day to banks, that tells me our government is more than able to give each person and/or family easily $5000/month until this pandemic and the recession/depression is gone.
Millions have lost their jobs, which also means many of them have lost their health insurance. A double whammy because of the stupid system of tying your healthcare to an employer. It not only puts the burden on the small and medium-sized employers, but most importantly, it makes a person in bondage to his/her employer because he/she can’t afford to be without healthcare.
It’s interesting to note, I saw a chart of other countries in the world compensating people because of what happened with Covid and the shut downs. Japan is paying 100% of the wages of their people, and other countries average 80% coverage.
The US–richest country on the planet? A big fat 0.
Disgraceful, unconscionable, disgusting, and simply inhumane. I’m embarrassed and angry.
Back to the stimulus joke. Due to the knowledge of the shelling out of a trillion dollars daily to banks, I think our government should have been doling out $5000/month for all Americans stating back in March. Instead, we have people suffering both health wise and economically, causing more deaths of despair and illnesses. It’s a disaster, it’s insanity, it’s inhumane.
I can’t get over how incredibly inhumane, arrogant, and worthless our government officials are. With the exception of a handful of them, they all need to go.
Just learning now that Trump hasn’t signed the bill but rather wants the bill reworked. This is good, but it doesn’t change my view on our government’s actions during these crises. However, I will hold out some hope that the next stimulus will actually be focused on the American people instead of unnecessary foreign aid and our government officials’ own special interests.
You always have to have hope.
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Modest Musings 