Wildly low estimates. Triple them at least.
Needs to be clear - PER HOUR!!!!!
It would be better if they translated the data into monthly income.
I always thought 2 can live as cheaply as one. Aspirin costs go up. That and the Zoloft/Prozac.
During covid I took a non-IT job and was hiring most young adults with a high school diploma and limited or no skills. More than once I had people calling out because they could not afford gas to get to work, had no family to help.
Hourly wage needed to cover basic costs: $35.98
Hourly minimum wage: $18.07 ($20 for fast food workers)
2. Boston
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $34.02
Hourly minimum wage: $15
3. New York
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $33.58
Hourly minimum wage: $16
4. Seattle
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $31.93
Hourly minimum wage: $19.97 (for most workers)
5. San Diego
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $30.46
Hourly minimum wage: $16.85 ($20 for fast food workers)
6. Washington, DC
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $28.89
Hourly minimum wage: $17.50
7. Los Angeles
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $26.81
Hourly minimum wage: $16.90 ($20 for fast food workers)
8. Atlanta
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $26.63
Hourly minimum wage: $7.25
9. Denver
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $25.85
Hourly minimum wage: $18.29
10. Portland, Oregon
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $25.67
Hourly minimum wage: $15.45
11. Orlando
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $25.51
Hourly minimum wage: $12
12. Inland Empire, California
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $25.34
Hourly minimum wage: $16 ($20 for fast food workers)
13. Miami
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $24.97
Hourly minimum wage: $12
14. Phoenix
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $24.78
Hourly minimum wage: $14.35
15. Charlotte
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $24.48
Hourly minimum wage: $7.25
16. Tampa Bay
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $24.32
Hourly minimum wage: $12
17. Dallas
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $23.84
Hourly minimum wage: $7.25
18. Chicago
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $23.72
Hourly minimum wage: $15 (for most workers)
19. Philadelphia
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $23.39
Hourly minimum wage: $7.25
20. Baltimore
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $23.13
Hourly minimum wage: $15
21. Minneapolis-St. Paul
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $22.81
Hourly minimum wage: $15.57 (starting July 1)
22. Houston
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $21.56
Hourly minimum wage: $7.25
23. St. Louis
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $20.39
Hourly minimum wage: $12.30
24. San Antonio
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $20.29
Hourly minimum wage: $7.25
25. Detroit
Hourly wage to cover basic costs: $19.70
Hourly minimum wage: $10.33
Perhaps splitting a house with three others would be less costly.
single = poor (both in money & quality of life)
The NYC estimate looks like utter nonsense to me.
Not reading the article, but it seems they are ranking to most popular liberal hellholes. :)
Hello from Smalltown, NC
So a young married couple should be able to live anywhere if they’re frugal and serious about building careers. I guess that is a big if though.
Misleading. The CNBC article says it’s for “basic” costs, implying that’s the minimum the single person would need. Yet, the source it said their article uses, the Economic Policy Institute Family Budget Calculator, doesn’t say anything so dire. Instead, the EPI FBC says it is a “modest yet adequate standard of living.”
“EPI’s Family Budget Calculator measures the income a family needs in order to attain a modest yet adequate standard of living. The budgets estimate community-specific costs for 10 family types (one or two adults with zero to four children) in all counties and metro areas in the United States.”
Modest yet adequate.
Recall that Star Trek’s Mr. Spock said that to say someone or something does an “adequate” job is high praise from a Vulcan, because adequate means exactly what is needed for the job, not lacking at all (paraphrased).
“All in the Family”
circa 1970
New York City
“Meathead” lived with his wife
in the wife’s family home
for a number of years
“Sanford & Son”
circa 1973
Los Angeles
Lamont lived with his father Fred in south LA
If you are an illegal alien, then most of these expenses are covered by the hosts.
32 hour work week or 40 hour work week?
Roommates. No reason to pay rent all by yourself.
No expectation that a minimum wage worker could expect to live solo.
And fast food in Dallas pays double digit. Basing the study on statutory minimums instead of actual pay expectations is intellectually dishonest.
The biggest problem with low end workers isn’t the pay, it’s the getting jacked around on schedules and hours. Of course, the flip side of the scheduling equation is the lack of reliability of many workers. So there’s fault on both sides.
No way to plan for a future for these kids.
They want ‘em poor and enslaved.
what pisses me off about these kind of articles is they ignore Honolulu and Anchorage.
They are usually written by someone working from home that doesn’t have a clue.
So they are useless.
I’ve lived near a few of the listed cites and I know
how much it costs to live there. If you are inventive and are willing to cut expectations you can live much cheaper.
Not everybody lives like Ozzie and Harriet.
I’ve lived in old boats, in a black slum, you name it.
Does the US Constitution give a person the ‘right’ to live where they want???
If a person does not have the skills/earnings to live in a high priced area, then that person may want to consider moving to a low-cost area.
I am tired of the whining by people who want to live in expensive cities but do not want to pay the price.