minimum wage graphic
So, let's say in PA which is what I'm familiar with, if the minimum wage is 7.75 as bhu claims...and someone is working an 89 hour week...they make 2988ish a month. In a 40 hour week it's $1343/month. My girlfriend has a two bed apartment in the University City that costs $700 and it is lovely.
I think that map might be a gross exaggeration.
Net vs. gross pay.
Yeah. You made that much money. Your take home at that point is going to be around $950/month. Say a one bedroom apt is $550 (given a two was $700 in your example), then you have $400 for the month. $150 for power, gas, water, internet (being really, really conservative with $150), leaves $250. $250 for groceries, gasoline, your car payments / maintenance / Insurance and everything else that comes up.
No, that is not enough.
My average income before anything is taken out is ~$1500/month. My take-home is ~$1,200 a month. My bills, with my car paid off but with full coverage on insurance, are ~$950 a month, not counting i spend over $100 on gasoline a month, and my groceries. I barely make ends meet (though I do) making $2 and change over minimum wage. I live very minimalist too.
I would agree that the chart can get really twisted up by lumping in the averages in between populated areas with non, taking a whole stat at a time, but what do you expect of statistics on a large scale? This statistic wouldn't have the same living wage expense from one burrough to the next, much less city to city, or city to town.
But the point is: Minimum Wage <<<<<<< (
very much less than) <<<<<<< Living Wage.
