Rankings · Housing

Lowest minimum-wage housing by state

Minimum-wage hours for 2BR rent.

Hours of work per week at the general state minimum wage needed to keep HUD’s two-bedroom Fair Market Rent at 30% of gross income. Lower means that this county’s HUD rent benchmark consumes fewer minimum-wage work hours. It is not a household budget: it excludes taxes, utilities, child care and every other expense. The wage is the U.S. Department of Labor’s listed state rate; local ordinances, employer-size rules, tipped work and occupation exemptions can differ, so this is a consistent state-law comparison rather than a promise of any worker’s pay.

  1. 1Missouri58.4 hr/wk
  2. 2Nebraska60.9 hr/wk
  3. 3South Dakota70.8 hr/wk
  4. 4Michigan73.4 hr/wk
  5. 5Arkansas74.6 hr/wk
  6. 6Illinois79.8 hr/wk
  7. 7New Mexico83.0 hr/wk
  8. 8Rhode Island83.1 hr/wk
  9. 9Delaware84.4 hr/wk
  10. 10Oregon84.8 hr/wk
  11. 11Ohio85.4 hr/wk
  12. 12Alaska86.1 hr/wk
  13. 13Maine86.3 hr/wk
  14. 14Arizona86.7 hr/wk
  15. 15Vermont86.9 hr/wk
  16. 16West Virginia87.6 hr/wk
  17. 17Washington90.3 hr/wk
  18. 18Connecticut92.0 hr/wk
  19. 19District of Columbia93.9 hr/wk
  20. 20Colorado94.6 hr/wk
  21. 21Minnesota99.6 hr/wk
  22. 22Maryland100.4 hr/wk
  23. 23Virginia104.3 hr/wk
  24. 24Florida106.0 hr/wk
  25. 25New York107.3 hr/wk
  26. 26New Jersey107.8 hr/wk
  27. 27Montana108.1 hr/wk
  28. 28Mississippi109.8 hr/wk
  29. 29Nevada110.2 hr/wk
  30. 30Wyoming113.1 hr/wk
  31. 31North Dakota114.2 hr/wk
  32. 32Alabama114.7 hr/wk
  33. 33Iowa116.6 hr/wk
  34. 34Kentucky117.3 hr/wk
  35. 35Oklahoma119.2 hr/wk
  36. 36Kansas119.3 hr/wk
  37. 37Louisiana119.7 hr/wk
  38. 38California121.5 hr/wk
  39. 39Hawaii122.3 hr/wk
  40. 40Massachusetts125.8 hr/wk
  41. 41Indiana131.0 hr/wk
  42. 42Wisconsin132.7 hr/wk
  43. 43Tennessee141.9 hr/wk
  44. 44South Carolina142.9 hr/wk
  45. 45North Carolina147.7 hr/wk
  46. 46Idaho149.2 hr/wk
  47. 47Pennsylvania156.5 hr/wk
  48. 48Texas161.6 hr/wk
  49. 49Georgia164.7 hr/wk
  50. 50Utah165.9 hr/wk
  51. 51New Hampshire204.9 hr/wk
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Source: U.S. Department of Labor; HUD Fair Market Rent. · How this is built