(RNN) – Minimum wage doesn’t cover the cost of rent anywhere in the United States – not Hawaii, not Arkansas, not anywhere.
The stark findings appear in an annual report released this week by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
“A full-time worker earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 needs to work approximately 122 hours per week for all 52 weeks of the year, or approximately three full-time jobs, to afford a two-bedroom rental home at the national average fair market rent,” the report said.
“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, “Out of Reach,” said the 2018 national housing wage is $22.10 ($45,986 annually) for a modest two-bedroom rental home and $17.90 ($37,232 annually) for a modest one-bedroom rental home.
The median household income in the United States for 2016 was $57,617 or $27.70 an hour.
Affordability is based on the federal standard that no more than 30 percent of a household’s gross income should be spent on rent and utilities.
Housing costs vary greatly across the country.
In Hawaii, where housing costs the most, it would take hourly wages of $36.13 to rent a two-bedroom home.
In Arkansas, where the housing is cheapest in the continental United States, it takes $13.84 an hour for a similar home.
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