From coast to coast, the minimum wage is falling short of how much Americans need to comfortably afford average rent prices in major cities.
A common rule of thumb recommends spending no more than 30% of your income on housing. However, as housing costs have continued to rise, it’s become difficult for many Americans to stick to that budget.
The federal minimum wage has sat at $7.25 for the past 15 years. For tipped workers, it’s just $2.13 an hour. While 34 states have raised their state minimum wage, others have kept it at $7.25 or lower, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
But even in places where the minimum wage is higher than the federal rate, it still comes to far less than you’d need to comfortably afford a one-bedroom dwelling at the fair market rental price, according to a recent report from Clever Real Estate.
In New York, for instance, you need to earn nearly $45 per hour to rent a one-bedroom apartment for $2,330 a month without spending more than 30% of your income on housing, according to Clever’s study.
Fair market rent is based on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s fair market rent standard. Under this model, around 40% of similar units in the area rent for less than the listed fair market rental price and 60% rent for more.
Here’s how the minimum wage in 15 large U.S. cities compares with the hourly wage you’d actually need to earn in order to comfortably afford a one-bedroom dwelling at fair market price, per Clever Real Estate’s data.
1. New York
- Fair market rent: $2,330
- Hourly minimum wage: $16
- Necessary hourly minimum wage: $44.81
2. Los Angeles
- Fair market rent: $2,081
- Hourly minimum wage: $17.27
- Necessary hourly minimum wage: $40.02
3. Chicago
- Fair market rent: $1,560
- Hourly minimum wage: $14
- Necessary hourly minimum wage: $30
4. Houston
- Fair market rent: $1,279
- Hourly minimum wage: $7.25
- Necessary hourly minimum wage: $24.60
5. Phoenix
- Fair market rent: $1,679
- Hourly minimum wage: $14.35
- Necessary hourly minimum wage: $32.29
6. Philadelphia
- Fair market rent: $1,512
- Hourly minimum wage: $7.25
- Necessary hourly minimum wage: $29.08
7. San Antonio
- Fair market rent: $1,231
- Hourly minimum wage: $7.25
- Necessary hourly minimum wage: $23.67
8. San Diego
- Fair market rent: $2,328
- Hourly minimum wage: $16.85
- Necessary hourly minimum wage: $44.77
9. Dallas
- Fair market rent: $1,606
- Hourly minimum wage: $7.25
- Necessary hourly minimum wage: $30.88
10. Jacksonville, Florida
- Fair market rent: $1,454
- Hourly minimum wage: $12
- Necessary hourly minimum wage: $27.96
11. Austin, Texas
- Fair market rent: $1,650
- Hourly minimum wage: $7.25
- Necessary hourly minimum wage: $31.73
12. San Jose, California
- Fair market rent: $2,975
- Hourly minimum wage: $17.55
- Necessary hourly minimum wage: $57.21
13. Columbus, Ohio
- Fair market rent: $1,194
- Hourly minimum wage: $10.45
- Necessary hourly minimum wage: $22.96
14. Charlotte, North Carolina
- Fair market rent: $1,647
- Hourly minimum wage: $7.25
- Necessary hourly minimum wage: $31.67
15. Seattle
- Fair market rent: $2,293
- Hourly minimum wage: $19.97
- Necessary hourly minimum wage: $44.10
The future of the federal minimum wage in America is complicated
Currently, a person working one full-time job earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour would only make $15,080 annually. That’s barely above the federal poverty threshold, according to the Department of Health and Human Services’ 2024 guidelines.
Although the federal minimum wage has remained unchanged for nearly two decades, lawmakers have made efforts to boost it.
Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., introduced the Raise the Wage Act bill in July 2023 that would gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $17 per hour over the course of five years. However, no further congressional action has been taken on the bill.
Raising the federal minimum wage could prove to be a double-edged sword, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of the Raise the Wage Act of 2023. Increasing the federal minimum wage could lift many workers out of poverty, but employers may choose to hire fewer workers due to the higher minimum wage they’d need to pay, per the CBO’s study.
“In general, increasing the federal minimum wage would raise the earnings and family income of most low-wage workers and thus lift some families out of poverty,” the CBO’s study states. “But doing so would cause other low-wage workers to become jobless, and their family income would fall.”
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