Make Minimum Wage? No Housing for You!

People making minimum wage cannot afford to rent a place to live. This conclusion, made in an annual report released by the The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), explains that on average, the earned income falls about $4/hour short of 'housing income,' or the income required to maintain a household.

Source: NLIHC's "Out of Reach 2012"

So, just how many hours earning minimum wage does it take to afford a home of one's own? It depends on the state: West Virginia and Arkansas come in as the most affordable, with a worker earning minimum wage only needing to work 63/hours a week to make ends meet. An employee earning minimum wage in California, however, would need to work 130 hours/week to make ends meet. That works out to be about 18 hours per day just to pay the rent.

For more information on the unequal state of America's house system, please visit the National Low Income Housing Coalition, and view the 2012 report "Out of Reach".

- T