Headlines: Regional Rents Are Hell on Minimum Wage Earners

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Photo by James Losey, Creative Commons License.

Photo by James Losey, Creative Commons License.

Out of Reach 2015, a new report entitled  from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, says that workers would need to take home $17.57 per hour on average in order to afford the rent on a two-bedroom apartment in Pennsylvania. Here’s the thing, the minimum wage is only $7.25 per hour and the average hourly wage for renters statewide is only $13.66. The report summarizes that workers who earn the minimum wage in PA would have to work 78 hours per week in order to afford a one-bedroom at Fair Market Rent ($739 per month).

As you might expect, those sobering numbers are even higher in Philadelphia region, which is home to the five most expensive counties in the state (in terms of hourly wages needed for renting a two-bedroom apartment). The take home pay swells to $22.23 per hour in Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties. Earn minimum wage and want to rent a one-bedroom within Philadelphia? The report says you’d have to work an average of 102 hours per week to make that happen.

Mapping the Hourly Wage Needed to Rent a 2-Bedroom Apartment in Every U.S. State [CityLab]

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