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.
“The bottom line is this: if we don't see better pricing, we're all going out of business”
After 25 years of farming blueberries, Bill Braswell is navigating the complex landscape of tariffs and their potential impact on Florida's agricultural industry.
