Miguel Afonso Caetano<p>"In 2025, the national Housing Wage is $33.63 per hour for a modest two-bedroom rental home and $28.17 for a modest one-bedroom. Figure 1 provides state-specific two-bedroom Housing Wages, reflecting the wide variation in housing costs across the country. As this report demonstrates, these required wages far exceed not just the federal minimum wage but also the median wages of workers in many of the most common occupations, such as home health aides, food service workers, and administrative assistants. Almost half of all U.S. workers earn less than the hourly wage required to afford a modest one-bedroom rental home (BLS, 2024).<br>(...)<br>Even after factoring in higher state and local minimum wages, the<br>average minimum-wage worker in the U.S. must work 116 hours<br>per week—nearly three full-time jobs—to afford a modest two bedroom rental home at Fair Market Rent. To afford a modest one-bedroom rental home, they would need to work 97 hours per week, or 2.4 full-time jobs. Higher minimum wages, however, are insufficient in addressing the housing affordability crisis. In each of the 64 counties and municipalities with minimum wages above both state and federal levels, local minimum wages still fall short of the local Housing Wage for both one- and two-bedroom rental homes <br>(...)<br>As shown in Figure 2, more than half of all wage earners<br>cannot afford a modest one-bedroom rental home at Fair Market<br>Rent while working full-time. At least 60% cannot afford a modest two-bedroom rental home while working full-time. In 2025, the average hourly wage earned by renters is $23.60, which is $10.03 less than the national two-bedroom Housing Wage of $33.63 and $4.57 less than the one-bedroom Housing Wage of $28.17. In 49 states, the average renter wage is not enough to afford a two bedroom rental. In 37 states, it falls short of affording even a one bedroom rental."</p><p><a href="https://nlihc.org/oor" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">nlihc.org/oor</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p><p><a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/USA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>USA</span></a> <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/Housing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Housing</span></a> <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/Rents" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Rents</span></a> <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/WageSlavery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WageSlavery</span></a> <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/Inequality" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Inequality</span></a> <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/Financialization" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Financialization</span></a></p>