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Tag: Jobs
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.
The Final Nail in the Coffin for Trump
I don’t know if you have been following the news regarding the state of our economy, but it isn’t good. In fact, it’s terrible, tragic, and unacceptable.
Why do I say unacceptable?
Well, let me just back track for a moment.
A few reports in 2019 showed that there was a lot of dumping of cash and assets into venues such as banking institutions and other big corporate entities to try and stave off another bad recession.
We never seem to learn from our mistakes.
Maybe it’s because the majority of this country’s leaders/those in power are too full of pride/arrogance and greed, blinded by their own passions/sins.
Having heard that Trump has basically pulled the plug on any stimulus package getting out to the millions of people struggling in our country until after he’s re-elected IS the nail in the coffin for Trump.
He will not be re-elected, along with those in congress who have done diddly squat and don’t give a damn about the average American, for which there are too many.
However, back to why this horrible economic situation is unacceptable and a disgrace.
People could still be working to this day if Trump and our congress had enacted an emergency UBI throughout this pandemic and economic crises.
No. Instead, they dug their heels in to keep padding those with enough money to end world hunger and are living well throughout this devastating year.
In other words, the majority of wealthy American who didn’t need the extra money got plenty, while our government allowed working class and middle class citizens to lose their jobs and with that, their livelihood.
The fact that suicides are going up isn’t a coincidence. Whenever the economy drops, around 40,000 people die from what I heard through news reports.
Despair, hopelessness, depression, anxiety, and plain exhaustion are weighing down people, and for so many, it’s too heavy a weight to bear.
So, unless something is done about all the people going hungry, losing a place for them to live, to basically survive, this situation will only become catastrophic, and God help us if that happens…although it’s already started.
A UBI should have been enacted by March 2020.
They still need to do this or come up with a real stimulus to help the average Americans and small businesses.
Personally, I think the UBI would be the most secure and solid, especially using Andrew Yang’s idea of that money being collected from big tech companies’ sales that uses our personal data to make money they gather every hour of the day. We deserve dividends on that.
May God enlighten our leaders, soften their hearts, open their minds to the plight of those suffering all around the country, and do their jobs to help turn this ship around before it sinks.
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Modest Musings 