A full-time worker earning the federal minimum wage, or the prevailing state or local minimum wage, cannot afford a modest two-bedroom rental home at fair market rent, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC).
In addition, a full-time minimum-wage worker can afford a one-bedroom rental home at fair market rent in only 6% of counties nationwide, not including Puerto Rico. These 204 counties are in states where the minimum wage is higher than the federal rate of $7.25.
According to NLIHC’s “Out of Reach 2024” report, the average hourly wage earned by renters this year is $23.18, $8.93 less than the two-bedroom housing wage of $32.11 and $3.56 less than the one-bedroom housing wage of $26.74. The housing wage is NLIHC’s estimate of the hourly wage full-time workers must earn to afford a rental home at fair market rent without spending more than 30% of their income.
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