Massachusetts Named One Of The Least Affordable States For Renters
BOSTON (CBS) –- An alarming new study finds people earning a minimum wage can't pay for a two-bedroom apartment anywhere in America.
The report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition found that rent is so expensive these days that raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would not even make a dent in most states.
Massachusetts is the sixth-most expensive state for renters, according to the study. The report found that workers need to make more than $28 an hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment, or work more than 104 hours a week at the current minimum wage of $11 an hour.
In the Boston-Quincy-Cambridge area, workers would need to earn over $33 an hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment.
"This year's findings demonstrate how far out of reach modestly priced housing is for the growing low-wage work force, despite recent wage growth, and for other vulnerable populations across the country," the report states.
The only places with a higher housing wage than Massachusetts are Maryland, New York, California, Washington D.C. and Hawaii.
