A recent study has found that rents are out of reach for the vast majority of minimum wage workers, CNN reported. Data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition showed that there are no counties in the Uunited States where a worker on the federal minimum wage working 40 hours a week can afford to rent on a two-bedroom apartment; further, workers trying to rent a one-bedroom apartment can only do so in 7 percent of U.S. counties.
Nationally, the average fair market rent is $1,061 a month for a one-bedroom and $1,295 a month for a two-bedroom. In order to afford these rents, a worker would need a minimum income of $24.90 an hour to afford a two-bedroom and $20.40 an hour to afford a one-bedroom, assuming that "afford" means "not spend more than one third of your income on." Given this, even though many renters are making more than minimum wage, they're still not exactly affording their place, as the average income of a renter is $18.78 an hour.
