2nd least affordable state in the midwest (Minneapolis, Hopkins: 2015, apartments)

[daboywonder2002]

Survey: MN 2nd Least Affordable Midwestern State For Rent « CBS Minnesota


MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A new report says minimum wage workers do not make enough money to find affordable rent in Minnesota.
According to the “Out of Reach 2015″ report, Minnesota is the second least-affordable state in the Midwest. Illinois was first in that category.
Rent is considered affordable when a person doesn’t have to spend more than 30 percent of their income.
At $8 an hour, which is the state’s current minimum wage, what would be considered affordable rent would be about $400 a month. But rent for a modest one-bedroom apartment in Minnesota is just over $700 a month, according to the report.
Nationally, Minnesota ranks in the middle, coming in at 21st. The least affordable state in which to live is Hawaii, followed by District of Columbia, California, and New York. The most affordable areas in the U.S. to live are in Arkansas, Kentucky, West Virginia, South Dakota, and Iowa.
The report also said that there is no single state in the U.S. where someone making minimum wage could rent affordable housing on a 40-hour work week.

[BillWallace]

The way to go is to get a roommate. Not sure when it became so mandatory that people have their own place (assuming no kids). I lived with 5 guys in a townhouse after college until I got married.

Minimum wage goes to $9 in August which at full-time rate is $468/mo if using the 30% metric. I'd think there are plenty of 2 bedroom apartments available for less than that. Heck, I have a rental property in Hopkins that is a 2 bedroom condo that rents for less than $900/mo.

I know the issue is still there for single parent families and those without full time employment.

[MidwestRedux]

I think this thread is better suited for the POC Forum. The referenced "survey" is written by an advocacy group with a clear political agenda.

I don't understand how the minimum wage, also known as "the lowest wage an employer can legally pay anyone for doing any job" is a meaningful baseline in determining affordability.

If the average wage that people earn isn't enough to afford the average house or apartment, that is a real affordability issue. There are many states and metro areas in the country where this is the case. Minnesota, and specifically the MSP Metro, compare very favorably in this area. Minnesota has the highest median income of any non-coastal state in the US and a relatively low cost of living.

Of course there are in situations where people need to try and support themselves and/or their family on one minimum wage income. Again though, the cause and effect of that is something to be debated in the Politics and Other Controversies Forum. I'm sure there are several active threads on related topics as we speak.

[Mason3000]

Originally Posted by daboywonder2002

Survey: MN 2nd Least Affordable Midwestern State For Rent « CBS Minnesota


MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A new report says minimum wage workers do not make enough money to find affordable rent in Minnesota.
According to the “Out of Reach 2015″ report, Minnesota is the second least-affordable state in the Midwest. Illinois was first in that category.
Rent is considered affordable when a person doesn’t have to spend more than 30 percent of their income.
At $8 an hour, which is the state’s current minimum wage, what would be considered affordable rent would be about $400 a month. But rent for a modest one-bedroom apartment in Minnesota is just over $700 a month, according to the report.
Nationally, Minnesota ranks in the middle, coming in at 21st. The least affordable state in which to live is Hawaii, followed by District of Columbia, California, and New York. The most affordable areas in the U.S. to live are in Arkansas, Kentucky, West Virginia, South Dakota, and Iowa.
The report also said that there is no single state in the U.S. where someone making minimum wage could rent affordable housing on a 40-hour work week.

If you're single and earn minimum wage, why do you have to have your own place? You should be able to get a roommate or roommates and pay what is affordable for you. Or live with family to cut the cost? Also, a couple, both working 40 hours a week at minimum wage are above the poverty line & should be able to get their own place if they like.

Not saying Mn is or is not affordable, but this sounds like the author is pimping for a higher minimum wage? It amazes me how so many smart people can so vigorously support a policy they don't understand? The minimum wage is a tool used to keep minority & low skilled workers out of the workforce, not a tool to help poor people. Period.

It was introduced in British Columbia to keep the Chinese from undercutting wages and taking White jobs in the logging industry. In Australia it was introduced to protect White railroad jobs. In South Africa under Apartheid, the Boers introduced it to protect White jobs from poor Blacks willing to work for less. The minimum wage was also introduced in the United States to keep poor Blacks out of the work force (Davis-Bacon Act 1931). Southern contractors were taking Blacks from the South up to the Northeast and undercutting White Union labor. To ensure it didn't continue, they passed the minimum wage which made the prevailing White union wage the law of the land. Consequently, those White workers kept their jobs and the Blacks were frozen out of the workforce entirely.

Fast forward to today: If a poor guy, with limited job skills is having a hard time finding a job at $8 an hour, how is that going to make it any better for him at $15 or $20 an hour? I personally will still get hired at $20, but the higher minimum wage almost guarantees that low skilled worker will not find employment. If you want a higher minimum wage to better yourself, just remember what it does to those struggling to find employment. This message is brought to you by the "Be careful what you wish for" society of City-Data.

[Thedosius]

Originally Posted by Mason3000

It amazes me how so many smart people can so vigorously support a policy they don't understand? The minimum wage is a tool used to keep minority & low skilled workers out of the workforce, not a tool to help poor people. Period.

This is not a fact, it is one perspective.

Period.

It amazes me how so many smart people so vigorously maintain something is a certitude when it is actually a matter of legitimate controversy.

[Mason3000]

Originally Posted by Thedosius

This is not a fact, it is one perspective.

Period.

It amazes me how so many smart people so vigorously maintain something is a certitude when it is actually a matter of legitimate controversy.

No, it is a fact, not a perspective. That race and protectionism were behind the Minimum Wage and that is not in dispute. It can be argued that it was only one of the main reasons or that the policy is not supported today with the same intent, but it is factually undeniable that race and protectionism were at the heart of the Minimum Wage in British Columbia, Australia, Apartheid South Africa and the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931.

[Thedosius]

Originally Posted by Mason3000

No, it is a fact, not a perspective. That race and protectionism were behind the Minimum Wage and that is not in dispute. It can be argued that it was only one of the main reasons or that the policy is not supported today with the same intent, but it is factually undeniable that race and protectionism were at the heart of the Minimum Wage in British Columbia, Australia, Apartheid South Africa and the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931.

No, it is not a fact, it is a perspective.

To quote you, verbatim,

"The minimum wage is a tool used to keep minority & low skilled workers out of the workforce, not a tool to help poor people. Period"

Very definitive, very unambiguous, and not at all the same as

"race and protectionism were behind the Minimum Wage and that is not in dispute. It can be argued that it was only one of the main reasons or that the policy is not supported today with the same intent, but it is factually undeniable that race and protectionism were at the heart of the Minimum Wage in British Columbia, Australia, Apartheid South Africa and the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931"

The sleight of hand you pull here is in conflating past and present tense. These two statements, made by you, are directly contradictory

A) "It can be argued that it was only one of the main reasons or that the policy is not supported today with the same intent"

B) "The minimum wage is a tool used to keep minority & low skilled workers out of the workforce, not a tool to help poor people. Period."

Both your statements literally cannot be true. It is logically impossible.

B) is false.

Period.

[TimtheGuy]

Originally Posted by daboywonder2002

Survey: MN 2nd Least Affordable Midwestern State For Rent « CBS Minnesota


MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A new report says minimum wage workers do not make enough money to find affordable rent in Minnesota.
According to the “Out of Reach 2015″ report, Minnesota is the second least-affordable state in the Midwest. Illinois was first in that category.
Rent is considered affordable when a person doesn’t have to spend more than 30 percent of their income.
At $8 an hour, which is the state’s current minimum wage, what would be considered affordable rent would be about $400 a month. But rent for a modest one-bedroom apartment in Minnesota is just over $700 a month, according to the report.
Nationally, Minnesota ranks in the middle, coming in at 21st. The least affordable state in which to live is Hawaii, followed by District of Columbia, California, and New York. The most affordable areas in the U.S. to live are in Arkansas, Kentucky, West Virginia, South Dakota, and Iowa.
The report also said that there is no single state in the U.S. where someone making minimum wage could rent affordable housing on a 40-hour work week.

Why don't they compare the rent to what people actually make here, not the minimum wage?

[StPaulGal]

Doesn't surprise me at all that our housing costs are higher than most other places in the region. Housing prices and city size tend to be strongly correlated, and the MSP metro is the thrid largest in the Midwest. (Detroit is #2, but obviously they are in a completely different economic and housing situation than we are.) When you compare average wages and average housing costs, though, you will find that our ratios are pretty darn good.

[Astron1000]

The Twin Cities are the Midwest's "Second City" to Chicago. Detroit is (unfortunately) in a class by itself. St. Louis, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincy, Indy and KCMO are down on the list. So it's no surprise that the Twin Cities are relatively expensive to the rest of the Midwest. The opportunities here are greater. And so are the rewards.

But compared to the rest of the US, the Twin Cities are a real, not relative, bargain given their quality of life.