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The Hill
2 days ago
- Business
- The Hill
Is $15 an hour enough? Only for DINKs in these states, data shows
(NEXSTAR) — Since 2009, the federal minimum wage in the U.S. has been $7.25 an hour. A new bill introduced in the Senate hopes to raise it to $15 an hour next year, followed by incremental increases to reflect inflation. In some states — including those that already have a minimum wage of $15 an hour or more — that rate isn't enough to cover the average costs a resident may have, according to MIT's Living Wage Calculator. The calculator takes into account the basic needs a family of varying sizes may have, like food, housing, child care, and transportation, to determine how much a worker must earn hourly to be 'self-sufficient.' Estimated living wages are available for all 50 states, their counties, and major metro areas. A Nexstar analysis found that, based on MIT's calculations, a $15 an hour rate isn't enough for a single adult, working 40 hours a week every week, to cover their basic needs in any state. The closest is West Virginia, where an hourly wage of $19.43 would suffice. It also wouldn't be enough for a family of four, with both adults working, to be self-sufficient in any state. Mississippi has the lowest hourly rate necessary for both adults at $22.43 an hour. In 15 states and the District of Columbia, meanwhile, the Living Wage Calculator found that for the same family, both adults would have to be earning $30 an hour or more to cover the same basic needs. In Massachusetts, an hourly living wage for two adults with two children is $37.71, according to MIT's calculator. Other states where the living wage is double the proposed federal minimum wage are: Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. (A recent study found that a family of four would need an annual household income of more than $200,000 to live comfortably in 43 states — that equates to both adults earning more than $40 an hour, before taxes and other withholdings.) The situation is vastly better for adults considered to be a 'DINK': dual-income, no kids. In 18 states, a household comprised of two adults who are both working, the pair could cover their needs while both earning under $15 an hour. According to MIT's Living Wage Calculator, Arkansas has the lowest necessary rate at $13.59 an hour. Close behind is West Virginia at $13.60. Other states where the estimated living wage for two working adults falls below $15 an hour include: Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. An hourly wage of $15 is nearly enough in Texas, where DINKs require $15.04 an hour to cover their basic needs. These calculations are estimates, and every family's situation is different. A working couple with no kids in the Little Rock, Arkansas, area, for example, has a living wage rate of $13.90 an hour, which is higher than the state average. The same couple in Hot Springs, Arkansas, would each need to earn at least $13.36 an hour, more than 20 cents below the state average. According to the data produced by MIT's Living Wage Calculator, no state's minimum wage is enough to be considered a living wage for a single working adult, DINKs, or a family of four where both adults are working. In the District of Columbia, however, the current minimum wage is higher than the living wage outlined for a dual-income, no-kids household. MIT's Living Wage Calculator estimates DINKs in the nation's capital may need an hourly wage of only $17.01. The minimum wage in D.C. is $17.50 an hour, and will increase to $17.95 an hour on July 1. Several of the nation's largest metros have higher minimum wages than their respective states. In Denver, the minimum hourly wage is $18.81, $4 higher than the state's $14.81 rate and nearly 50 cents higher than the estimated living wage for DINKs living in the city. You can find the estimated living wage for your region at MIT's Living Wage Calculator. The bill has bipartisan support, with Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) cosponsoring the legislation. The GOP-controlled House and Senate, though, have also been focused on Trump's priority legislation. President Donald Trump previously referred to the current rate of $7.25 an hour as a 'low number' in December, but the White House declined to comment on Hawley's proposed legislation to The Hill earlier this month.
American Military News
07-06-2025
- Business
- American Military News
Adults making under $80K can't afford to live comfortably in any state: report
A single adult earning less than $80,000 per year cannot afford to live comfortably in a single U.S. state, a new report found. The report, released by SmartAsset on June 4, also revealed that families of four must earn more than $200,000 to live comfortably in nearly every state. To reach these conclusions, SmartAsset — a personal finance site — used data from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Living Wage Calculator to quantify the baseline costs of living for single adults and families with two adults and two children. Factoring into these costs are housing, transportation, taxes and other items. Using these baseline costs, the site then applied the 50/30/20 budgeting rule — under which 50% of income goes toward necessities, 30% goes toward discretionary spending and 20% goes toward savings, debt or investments. Single adults The report found that West Virginia is the most affordable state for single adults, with a salary of $80,829 being enough to live comfortably. In 18 other states, adults earning between $80,000 and $90,000 would be able to afford a reasonable and sustainable lifestyle. Among them were Arkansas, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and New Mexico. The remaining 31 states require salaries above $90,000, and 15 of these — most of which are located on the coasts — require salaries exceeding $100,000. The most expensive state was Hawaii, where a single adult would require an income of $124,467 to live comfortably. This was followed by Massachusetts ($120,141), California ($119,475) and New York ($114,691). Overall, the report also found that an individual in any state needs to earn roughly $5,844 more this year than last year in order to have a comfortable budget. Families of four For a family of four with two working adults, the most affordable state to live in is Mississippi, the report found. Here, an income of $186,618 is required to live comfortably. This figure fell below $200,000 in just six other states: Kentucky ($192,941), Arkansas ($193,773), Alabama ($194,522), West Virginia ($195,354), South Dakota ($197,933) and Louisiana ($199,597). Meanwhile, the most expensive state for a family of four was Massachusetts, where an income of $313,747 was required to live comfortably. This was followed by Hawaii ($294,362), Connecticut ($290,368) and California ($287,456). Overall, a family of four in any of the 50 states needs to bring in about $9,360 more than the previous year in order to have a comfortable budget. ___ © 2025 The Charlotte Observer. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Miami Herald
05-06-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Adults making under $80K can't afford to live comfortably in any state: report
A single adult earning less than $80,000 per year cannot afford to live comfortably in a single U.S. state, a new report found. The report, released by SmartAsset on June 4, also revealed that families of four must earn more than $200,000 to live comfortably in nearly every state. To reach these conclusions, SmartAsset — a personal finance site — used data from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Living Wage Calculator to quantify the baseline costs of living for single adults and families with two adults and two children. Factoring into these costs are housing, transportation, taxes and other items. Using these baseline costs, the site then applied the 50/30/20 budgeting rule — under which 50% of income goes toward necessities, 30% goes toward discretionary spending and 20% goes toward savings, debt or investments. Single adults The report found that West Virginia is the most affordable state for single adults, with a salary of $80,829 being enough to live comfortably. In 18 other states, adults earning between $80,000 and $90,000 would be able to afford a reasonable and sustainable lifestyle. Among them were Arkansas, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and New Mexico. The remaining 31 states require salaries above $90,000, and 15 of these — most of which are located on the coasts — require salaries exceeding $100,000. The most expensive state was Hawaii, where a single adult would require an income of $124,467 to live comfortably. This was followed by Massachusetts ($120,141), California ($119,475) and New York ($114,691). Overall, the report also found that an individual in any state needs to earn roughly $5,844 more this year than last year in order to have a comfortable budget. Families of four For a family of four with two working adults, the most affordable state to live in is Mississippi, the report found. Here, an income of $186,618 is required to live comfortably. This figure fell below $200,000 in just six other states: Kentucky ($192,941), Arkansas ($193,773), Alabama ($194,522), West Virginia ($195,354), South Dakota ($197,933) and Louisiana ($199,597). Meanwhile, the most expensive state for a family of four was Massachusetts, where an income of $313,747 was required to live comfortably. This was followed by Hawaii ($294,362), Connecticut ($290,368) and California ($287,456). Overall, a family of four in any of the 50 states needs to bring in about $9,360 more than the previous year in order to have a comfortable budget.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How many in Nashville earn less than a living wage? New report details the 'high cost of low wages'
Hundreds of thousands of workers in Nashville's top 20 occupations earn less than the area's living wage, a third of students in Metro Nashville Public Schools are economically disadvantaged, and about one in five kids in Nashville don't have enough to eat. These are just a few of the statistics highlighted in Metro Social Services' latest Community Needs Evaluation, a report on Nashville's socioeconomic well-being published by the office annually. The office released the full report on May 14 and unveiled it during an event in western Nashville. This year, the report focuses on 'the high cost of low wages' in Nashville — that is, that the city experiences a high cost of living because of its large number of low-wage jobs. 'Like so much of our work, responding on the topic of wages will require a network of partners larger than Metro,' Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell said at the event. 'We will be working to share this evaluation broadly, to make sure people understand the high cost of low wages.' Here's a look at some of the highlights of the report, which is available to view in full on the city's website. The report lays out the difference between a 'living wage' — defined as what a full-time worker needs to earn to cover the costs of their basic needs — and federal poverty guidelines. To calculate that difference, the office utilized the MIT Living Wage Calculator, a widely used tool aimed at addressing cost of living disparities in American cities. What the research team behind the report found was that a single, childless worker living in Davidson County requires an annual income of $52,858 to achieve a living wage — a number more than three times higher than the federal poverty guideline for the same individual, which is just $15,650. 'The official poverty guidelines used by the federal government are highly inadequate in relation to the ways that economic hardship is experienced by a large portion of the Davidson County population,' the report reads. The report calls the federal poverty guideline, which is based on a calculation established in the 1960s, as 'outdated and misleading.' In part, that's because official poverty guidelines make no distinction between urban and rural areas, and as a result don't account for regional cost of living differences. That means when an individual or family does manage to earn enough money to achieve a living wage, they've fallen off what the report refers to as 'the benefits cliff' — when an increased income triggers an abrupt loss of public benefits, which typically are tied not to a region's living wage but to the federal poverty rate. The report notes that 326,000 workers employed in the Nashville area's top 20 occupations are hanging off that cliff. That's because they're earning a wage well under the area's living wage, but not nearly low enough to qualify for poverty relief programs. For example, the largest group of workers — 37,980 laborers who move freight, stock and other materials — earn an annual median wage of just $39,350. No group in the top 20 area occupations, ranging from retail and fast food workers to security guards and construction laborers, earns an annual median wage higher than $49,090. The report notes this is because Nashville's economy is closely tied to low-paying job sectors like tourism, retail, health service and transportation, exasperated by further demand for low-wage service jobs as high-paying technology jobs and corporate headquarters move into the community. Many of those workers face worse health outcomes, the report reads. Overall, 16.2% of Nashville workers earning $25,000 to $50,000 lack health insurance, and one in five Davidson County residents experiences poor or fair health — worse than that of the state of Tennessee or the nation. Other knock-on effects of low wages, according to the report, lead to instability in more ways than just inside Nashvillians' wallets. Along with lacking savings both in case of an emergency and toward retirement, low wages can lead to food insecurity. In Nashville, that means one out of every five kids doesn't have enough to eat. For families with kids, rising child care costs may also be an insurmountable cost. And that all leads to intergenerational impacts, according to the report. Kids in living wage poverty are more likely to be in poorer health than other children. They also see lower levels of educational attainment, coupled with higher high school dropout rates. In the report, that's reflected in the rate of MNPS students who are economically disadvantaged — 32% of them, who collectively went to college at a rate of 39.3% in the 2023 graduating class, compared to a 65.3% rate for their non-disadvantaged peers. With limited access to employment opportunities, the report notes, those individuals can end up with fewer positive role models and higher rates of incarceration and violence. Austin Hornbostel is the Metro reporter for The Tennessean. Have a question about local government you want an answer to? Reach him at ahornbostel@ Get Davidson County news delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: 326,000 Nashville workers earn less than a living wage, report finds
Miami Herald
24-03-2025
- Lifestyle
- Miami Herald
How much does your living wage need to be to make it in Miami? Hint: It's going up
The cost of living in Miami-Dade with, and without, children went up again for 2025. You're going to need about $2,000 to $4,000 a year more in 2025 compared with 2024 for couples. The amounts differ on whether one partner is working or both are. Also, the living wage requirement rises depending on the number of children you have, from one to three, and varies if you're single. The latest Massachusetts Institute of Technology Living Wage Calculator cobbles together figures for the basic cost of living for singles and couples in every state. The data includes housing, food, transportation, childcare and other costs. According to World Population Review, using Living Wage figures, Hawaii was the most expensive state in terms of required living wage. Massachusetts, California and New York were near the top. West Virginia was the least expensive. Florida came somewhere in the middle at 23rd place. What is a living wage? A living wage, defined by MIT, 'is what one full-time worker must earn on an hourly basis to help cover the cost of their family's minimum basic needs where they live while still being self-sufficient.' The wage takes into account expenses for basic needs like childcare, food, healthcare, housing, internet and cell service, transportation, civic engagement and other necessities. The living wage and minimum wage differ — living wage factors in basic expenses while minimum wage is set by state law. The current hourly minimum wage in Florida is $13 and is set to rise to $14 after Sept. 30 and $15 one year later in October 2026. READ MORE: Is it more expensive to buy a house in Miami? Are condo sales still down? Take a look How much in Miami-Dade County? Here is how much people in Miami-Dade need to earn as an hourly wage and annual pre-tax income to cover basic necessities in 2025, according to the Living Wage Calculator. The wages depend on how many of the adults are working and how many children there are in the family. Singles ▪ One adult and no children: hourly wage $24.77; annual salary $51,528. ▪ One adult and one child: hourly wage $40.55; annual salary $84,344. ▪ One adult and two children: hourly wage $49.02; annual salary $101,962. ▪ One adult and three children: hourly wage $61.92; $128,787. Couples ▪ Two adults with one working, no children: hourly wage $33.58; annual salary $69,850. ▪ Two adults with one working, one child: hourly wage $40.06; annual salary $83,334. ▪ Two adults with one working, two children: hourly wage $43.52; annual salary $90,529. ▪ Two adults with one working, three children: hourly wage $51.08; annual salary $106,252. ▪ Two adults with both working, no children: hourly wage $16.70; annual salary $69,850. ▪ Two adults with both working, one child: hourly wage $22.68; annual salary $94,368. ▪ Two adults with both working, two children: hourly wage $26.82; annual salary $111,588. ▪ Two adults with both working, three children: hourly wage $32.45; annual salary $134,987. KNOW MORE: Renters are paying less for apartments in Miami, but there are issues. See the costs How much in Florida? Here's how Florida compares, overall. Miami-Dade, with its higher living expenses, requires a higher income level than the state. Singles ▪ One adult and no children: hourly wage $23.41; annual salary $48,863. ▪ One adult and one child: hourly wage $38.72; annual salary $80,539. ▪ One adult and two children: hourly wage $49.02; annual salary $98,855. ▪ One adult and three children: hourly wage $59,644; $124,044. Couples ▪ Two adults with one working, no children: hourly wage $32.06; annual salary $66,692. ▪ Two adults with one working, one child: hourly wage $40.06; annual salary $78,993. ▪ Two adults with one working, two children: hourly wage $41.50; annual salary $86,312. ▪ Two adults with one working, three children: hourly wage $51.08; annual salary $100,631. ▪ Two adults with both working, no children: hourly wage $16.03; annual salary $66,292. ▪ Two adults with both working, one child: hourly wage $21.81; annual salary $90,724. ▪ Two adults with both working, two children: hourly wage $26.16; annual salary $108,812. ▪ Two adults with both working, three children: hourly wage $31.35; annual salary $130,434.
