TAMPA, FLa. — In our ongoing coverage of Florida's constantly increasing prices (The Price of Paradise), a new study is showing just how tough the state is for low-income workers.
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a worker earning the minimum wage in Florida, $12.00 per hour, would have to work 98 hours per week to afford a "modest 1-bedroom rental home."
According to the study, a minimum-wage worker would have to work 117 hours per week to afford a 2-bedroom rental home at fair market value.
Put another way, a minimum wage worker would need 2.9 full-time jobs to afford a 2-bedroom rental home in Florida.
2024 Out of Reach Florida by ABC Action News
Zooming into the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater region, the study found the fair market value of a 2-bedroom unit was $1,851, and a worker would need an annual income of $74,040 to afford that price.
The study found the mean renter's wage in the region to be a little more than $23.33 an hour. Given that wage, the monthly rent affordable at the mean wage was $1,213.
"I felt like it was really strong-arm robbery."
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